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European shares edge up led by Adidas

Milan - European shares edged higher on Thursday led by solid earning reports from Adidas and Societe Generale, while commodity-related stocks were hit by a stronger dollar.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.27%, while Britain's commodity-heavy FTSE index underperformed to fall 0.44%.

Adidas rose 5.6% as the world's second-biggest sportswear firm raised its full-year outlook for sales and profits after third-quarter sales growth beat market expectations.

READ: Adidas raises forecasts as profit beats estimates

"Brand Adidas has seen a turnaround with new initiatives and products. It is back to gain market share even in the United States," said Kelper Cheuvreux analyst Jurgen Kolb.

French bank Societe Generale gained 5.9% after its third-quarter income rose 2.4% as growth at its retail network and lower risk provisions helped offset weakness in investment banking.

Shares in Vestas Wind Systems rose more than 5% after reporting a stronger-than-expected third-quarter operating profit before special items and raising its 2015 profit outlook.

Overall however earnings were mixed. In Europe, about 60% of companies have reported results so far, of which half have met or beaten analysts' earnings predictions, while the rest have missed, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data.

"We find that investors have differentiated more between winners and losers during the Q3 reporting season compared to recent quarters," said JP Morgan analyst Emmanuel Cau.

"The stock prices of the companies beating estimates have been strongly rewarded on the day, while the stocks missing estimates have underperformed significantly."

Shares in Adecco slumped 7.9% after the world's biggest staffing group posted a surprise half-billion euro net loss in the third quarter due to a €740m impairment of goodwill.

Brenntag fell 7.2% after the world's largest chemicals distributor cut its full-year core profit guidance citing difficult macro conditions.

The European mining index fell 1.7% as metal prices came under pressure from a rally in the dollar after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen pointed to a possible December interest rate hike.

"We are seeing a rotation out of commodity-related sectors, driven by a stronger dollar on prospects of a US rate hike," said Gerhard Schwarz, head of equity strategy at Baader Bank in Munich.

A stronger US currency generally makes dollar-priced commodities costlier for holders of other currencies and hits metals demand.

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