European Markets Close Higher As Investors Await U.S.-Iran Diplomatic Talks

(RTTNews) - The major European markets closed higher on Friday with investors picking up stocks amid hopes the upcoming diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Iran this weekend will yield a positive outcome.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement that his country was ready for direct negotiations with Lebanon. Netanyahu, however, insisted that Israel would continue to target Hezbollah.

A Reuters report, citing a senior Lebanese official says Lebanon intends to take part in a meeting next week in Washington with US and Israeli representatives to discuss and announce a ceasefire.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.73%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.33%, Germany's DAX ended up by 0.72% and France's CAC 40 closed 0.68% up. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.18%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Greece, Norway and Portugal ended notably lower.

In the UK market, Convatec Group climbed nearly 4.5%. Endeavour Mining, Antofagasta, Kingfisher, Burberry Group, ICG, Croda International and IMI gained 2%-3.1%.

Halma, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Coca-Cola HBC, Fresnillo, Pershing Square Holdings, Informa, Diploma, Natwest Group, Whitbread and Anglo American Plc also closed notably higher.

Metlen Energy & Metals fell 8.8%. BAE Systems shed about 3.3%. The Sage Group, Hiscox, Compass Group, Babcock International, Melrose Industries, Segro, Pearson, BP and Tesco lost 1%-2.2%.

In the German market, Heidelberg Materials jumped 3%. BASF, BMW, Siemens, Siemens Energy, Commerzbank, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens Healthineers, Symrise, Deutsche Post and Infineon gained 1%-2%.

Rheinmetall fell 5.6%. Hannover Re, Zalando, E.ON, Brenntag and Munich Re lost 1%-1.6%.

In the French market, STMicroelectronics climbed 3.5%. Stellantis, ArcelorMittal, Publicis Groupe, Capgemini, Edenred and Schneider Electric moved up 1.8%-2.5%. Legran, Saint-Gobain, BNP Paribas, Pernod Ricard and Bureau Veritas also closed notably higher.

Thales drifted down by more than 3%. TotalEnergies, Vinci, Sanofi, AXA, Safran, Orange, Airbus and Bouygues ended moderately lower.

Sodexo shares tumbled nearly 10% after the food and facilities management services provider reported sharply lower profit in its first half of fiscal 2026, amid weak revenues. Further, the firm trimmed outlook for fiscal 2026.

The company's group net profit declined 56.7% to 188 million euros from last year's 434 million euros. Basic earnings per share fell to 1.29 euros from 2.98 euros a year ago.

In economic news, final data from Destatis revealed Germany's consumer price inflation reached the strongest since January 2024 due to the significant rise in energy prices following the Iran war.

Consumer price inflation rose to 2.7% in March from 1.9% in February.

The rate came in line with the preliminary estimate published on March 30. The 2.7% was the highest level recorded since January 2024.

EU harmonized inflation advanced to 2.8%, as estimated, from 2% in February.