European Markets Recover From Multi-month Lows, Close On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - A day after falling to multi-month lows, European markets rebounded fairly strongly on Friday as oil prices fell sharply and bond yields dropped, easing concerns about inflation and interest rates a bit.

Oil prices fell reacting to reports that European Union countries are discussing a French proposal to release fuel and crude stockpiles to ease acute market tightness and help avert a potential U.S. diesel export ban.

Brent crude front-month futures fell to $98.40 before recovering to edge above $100 a barrel.

Additionally, weaker than expected jobs data from the U.S. has somewhat reduced the likelihood of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at its next meeting later this month. The report from the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 29,000 jobs in September after jumping by a downwardly revised 133,000 jobs in August, while economists had expected employment to increase by 85,000 jobs.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% in September from 4.1% in August. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.75%. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.32%, Germany's DAX jumped 1.17% and France's CAC 40 closed up 0.79%, while Switzerland's SMI settled with a gain of 0.28%.

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

Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended weak, while Belgium closed flat.

In the UK market, miners contributed significantly to the positive close. Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc and Glencore gained 2.9%-3.1%. Rio Tinto climbed 1.5%

Halma moved up nearly 4%. BT Group closed 2.86% up. Whitbread, Vodafone Group, Polar Capital Technology Trust, British Land, IMI and IAG gained 2%-2.2%.

Bank stocks Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest Group and Barclays also closed with strong gains.

JD Wetherspoon shares soared 8%. The British pub operator reported an 8.6% rise in like-for-like sales during the first nine weeks of its new financial year.

IG Group Holdings tanked 22.6%. Shares of the online trading and investment provider slumped after cutting its 2026 revenue growth forecast.

Babcock International and WPP drifted down 2.8% and 2.7%, respectively. Lion Finance, ICG, JD Sports Fashion, AstraZeneca, Standard Chartered, Tesco, Metlen Energy & Metals, Computacenter, BAE Systems and SSE also ended notably lower.

In the German market, Infineon soared nearly 9%, tracking the rally in global tech sector. Siemens Energy moved up by a little over 2%. Qiagen jumped nearly 6% and Hochtief gained 2.8%.

Siemens, Allianz, Munich RE, Deutsche Telekom, Heidelberg Materials, Merck, Deutsche Post, Hannover RE, E.ON, Scout24, RWE, Rheinmetall, BASF, Continental, Gea Group and Adidas also ended notably higher.

Daimler Truck Holding, SAP, Bayer, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Porsche Automobil Holding and Commerzbank shed 0.6%-2%.

In the French market, STMicroelectronics surged nearly 6.5%. Schneider Electric, Legrand, Danone, Air Liquide and Airbus gained 2%-3.5%.

Stellantis moved up sharply a day after reconfirming its 2026 financial guidance. Orange, Saint-Gobain, Engie, Vinci, Edenred, Safran and ArcelorMittal also closed higher.

Kering, Sanofi, Renault, Teleperformance, Capgemini and Carrefour lost 2.1%-3.1%. EssiloLuxottica, Publicis Groupe and Thales also drifted notably lower.

In economic news, flash estimate from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation accelerated more than expected in September on energy and food prices, rising 3.8% in the month from 3.2% in August. The rate was forecast to climb to 3.7%.

Excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, core inflation rose marginally to 2.5% from 2.4% in the previous month.