European Markets Close Higher As Investors Focus On Earnings

(RTTNews) - European stocks started off on a subdued note on Friday, but gained in some strength as the day progressed with investors largely making their moves, reacting to corporate earnings announcements. Some value buying after recent declines contributed as well to markets' upmove.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.89%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.59%, Germany's DAX jumped 0.94%, and France's CAC 40 closed up by 0.43%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.27% up. All the major averages posted moderate gains in the week.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed higher.

Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Russia and Turkiye ended weak.

In the UK market, Burberry Group, IAG, Fresnillo, Barclays, Airtel Africa, HSBC Holdings, Kingfisher and Endeavour Mining gained 2%-5.2%.

BP, Standard Chartered, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Spirax Group, IMI, 3i Group, ICG, Smiths Group, Imperial Brands, Vodafone Group and Melrose Industries also moved up sharply.

Metlen Energy & Metals tanked nearly 21% after the company said that it expects its 2025 EBITDA to come approximately 25% lower than previously targeted, despite robust performance in its core business segments.

Experian and Relx lost about 4.7%. The Sage Group, Compass Group, Smith & Nephew, British Land, Barratt Redrow, Diageo and Mondi ended down by 1%-3%.

In the German market, Siemens Energy climbed 4.3%. Heidelberg Materials, Siemens, Infineon, Rheinmetall, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, E.ON and MTU Aero Engines moved up 1%-2.5%.

Siemens Healthineers dropped more than 3%. Zalando ended 2.1% down. BASF, Brenntag, Symrise and Volkswagen also closed notably lower.

In the French market, Vinci soared nearly 10% after reporting stronger-than-expected results for the full-year. Vinci reported full-year 2025 net income attributable to owners of the parent of 4.90 billion euros or 8.65 euros per share, up from 4.86 billion euros or 8.43 euros per share last year.

ArcelorMittal gained about 4.75%, and Bouygues advanced 3%. Schneider Electric, Legrand, STMicroElectronics, Saint-Gobain, Safran, TotalEnergies, BNP Paribas and Accor ended higher by 1%-2.3%.

Stellantis plummeted 25% after the company flagged a €22 billion charge related to restructuring efforts focused on expanding its electric and hybrid lineup, and also announced that it will sell its 49% stake in NextStar Energy to LG Energy Solutions.

Societe Generale shed about 1.7% despite reporting a 36.4% jump in Group net income in the fourth quarter. The company also announced a share buy-back programme totalling 1.462 billion euros.

Danone, Renault, Dassault Systemes and Capgemini lost 2.5%-4%. Edenred and EssilorLuxottica also declined sharply.

In economic news, data from Destatis showed Germany's industrial production decreased 1.9% month-on-month in December, reversing a 0.2% rise in November. Output was forecast to drop 0.2%..

On a yearly basis, industrial production dropped 0.6%, in contrast to the 0.5% increase in November.

A separate data from Destatis showed Germany's exports bounced back and imports growth doubled in December.

Exports logged a monthly growth of 4% in December after falling 2.5% in November, the data showed. Shipments were expected to rise 1%. At the same time, the increase in imports doubled to 1.4% from 0.7% in November. Economists had forecast imports to climb 0.2%.

As a result, the trade surplus rose to EUR 17.1 billion from EUR 13.6 billion in November.

Data from the customs office showed France's foreign trade deficit increased in December as imports grew faster than exports. The trade deficit rose to EUR 4.8 billion in December from EUR 4.0 billion in the previous month. The expected shortfall was EUR 4.1 billion.

Exports posted a monthly increase of 1.7% in December, and imports showed a comparatively faster growth of 3%. Year-on-year, exports and imports rose by 4.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

Data from mortgage lender Halifax showed UK house prices rebounded at a stronger-than-expected pace in January, reaching a record high.

House prices increased 0.7% on a yearly basis in January, following a fall of 0.5% in December. Year-on-year, growth in house prices accelerated to 1% from 0.4% in the prior month.