European Markets Close Weak As Middle East War Raises Growth Concerns

(RTTNews) - Despite opening on a steady note, the major European markets closed weak on Friday amid worries about the economic impact of the ongoing Middle East war, which entered its seventh day. The mood turned cautious around late morning and then stayed that way till the end of the day's session.

Markets opened higher amid signs of stabilization in the oil market after the United States gave India a waiver to buy Russian oil for 30 days as the Middle East conflict impacts global energy supply.

The Trump administration's move on emergency measures, including state insurance guarantees for tankers and naval escort to counter rising energy prices, and reports that the White House was discussing the possibility of a large-scale release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in coordination with IEA partners aided sentiment at the start.

However, stocks turned direction around noon or a little past noon, as worries about the impact of the Middle East conflict rendered the mood cautious. Weak U.S. jobs data also contributed to the change in mood.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 1.02%. The UK's FTSE 100 ended down by 1.24%, Germany's DAX drifted down 0.94% and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 0.65%. Switzerland's SMI lost 1.52%.

The FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40 shed about 5.5%, 7% and 5%, respectively in the week.

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

Ireland and Portugal moved modestly higher, while Norway ended flat.

In the UK market, Kingfisher, Anglo American Plc, Airtel Africa, Pershing Square Holdings, Marks & Spencer, Spirax Group, Antofagasta, Barclays and Berkeley Group Holdings lost 3%-5.1%.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Prudential, Weir Group, Aviva, HSBC Holdings, Croda International, Glencore, Segro, British American Tobacco, Standard Chartered, Unilever, IAG, HSBC Holdings, Reckitt Benckiser, Natwest Group, Glencore and Severn Trent also declined sharply.

RightMove gained about 5.5% and Autotrader Group climbed 4.7%. BAE Systems, 3i Group, IMI, BP, Endeavour Mining, The Sage Group and Babcock International gained 1%-3%.

In the German market, Infineon tumbled more than 7%. Bayer, Heidelberg Materials, Qiagen, Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen, Continental, BASF, Siemens Energy, Merck, Brenntag, BMW, Henkel, Commerzbank, Porsche Automobil Holding and Daimler Truck Holding lost 2%-4%.

Rheinmetall moved up nearly 3%, and Scout24 gained about 2.7%. SAP, Beiersdorf, Deutsche Boerse and MTU Aero Engines posted modest gains.

In the French market, STMicroelectronics ended more than 6.5% down. ArcelorMittal, Accor, Saint-Gobain, Edenred, Vinci, Air Liquide and Societe Generale closed lower by 2%-4%.

Sanofi, Stellantis, Schneider Electric, EssilorLuxottica, Credit Agricole, Michelin, LVMH and BNP Paribas also ended notably lower.

Thales gained nearly 2%. TotalEnergies moved up 1.3%, while Dassault Systemes and Safran ended modestly higher.

In economic news, data from Eurostat showed the number of employed persons in the Euro Area rose by 0.2% from the previous quarter to 172.6 million in the final quarter of 2025, confirming the preliminary estimate, and above the initial market expectations of a 0.1% expansion. It was the bloc's 19th consecutive period of employment growth,

The Euro Area economy grew 1.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2025, revised down from an initial estimate of 1.3%. The figure marks the slowest annual growth in more than a year, easing from a 1.4% expansion in the previous quarter.

U.K. house prices increased at the fastest pace in four months in February, suggesting the property market gained momentum at the start of the year.

House prices registered an annual growth of 1.3% in February, following a 1.1% rise in January, according to data from the mortgage lender Halifax. This was the strongest growth in four months and exceeded economists' forecast of 0.9%.

The average property prices reached a new record high of GBP 301,151 in February.

On a monthly basis, house prices increased 0.3% in February, in line with expectations. This was the second consecutive increase but slower than the 0.8% increase posted in January.