European Markets Rise On Earnings, Economic Data

(RTTNews) - The major stock markets in Europe closed on a positive note on Friday as mostly encouraging earnings updates and decent economic data helped offset concerns about Middle East tensions. Also, weak U.S. jobs data raised hopes that the Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates anytime soon.

Data from the Labor Department showed U.S. non-farm payroll employment dropped by 23,000 jobs in July. The economy was expected to add 70,000 jobs in July.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% in the month from 4.2% in June. The rate was expected to remain unchanged.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.31%. Germany's DAX moved up 0.69%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.17% and the UK's FTSE 100 ended 0.31% up, while Switzerland's SMI closed 0.18% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Ireland and Norway closed higher.

Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Sweden ended weak, while Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Spain and Türkiye closed flat.

In the UK market, miners Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining climbed 4.6% and 4.1%, respectively.

Diageo moved up 3.3%. St. James's Place, Convatec Group, Experian, IG Group Holdings, Scottish Mortgage, Lion Finance and The Sage Group gained 2%-2.7%.

LSEG, AutoTrader Group, Melrose Industries, Prudential, Spirax Group, Entain, JD Sports Fashion, Legal & General, Smith & Nephew and Bunzl also closed notably higher.

Burberry Group dropped 2.5%. Glencore, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Computacenter, Shell, Rentokil Initial and Unilever shed 0.8%-1.6%.

In the German market, SAP, Scout24, Infineon, Siemens and BMW gained 2%-4%. Deutsche Boerse, Vonovia, Commerzbank, Siemens Healthineers, Volkswagen, Qiagen and Bayer also ended notably higher.

Daimler Truck Holding shed nearly 3%. Daimler Truck Holding's bottom line came in at EUR1.457 billion, or EUR1.91 per share. This compares with EUR277 million, or EUR0.36 per share, last year.

Allianz closed lower by about 1.6% after reporting a drop in earnings. The company announced that its second-quarter bottomline came in at EUR 2.595 billion, or EUR6.46 per share, compared with EUR2.841 billion, or EUR7.03 per share, last year.

Munich RE dropped 1.4% despite reporting higher quarterly earnings. The reinsurer reported that it posted a net profit of €2.211 billion in the second-quarter, up from €2.085 billion a year earlier. The company maintained its full-year 2026 profit guidance but lowered its insurance revenue outlook.

Zalando, Hochtief, Merck, Beiersdorf, Heidelberg Materials, MTU Aero Engines and Brenntag also close weak.

In the French market, STMicroelectronics, Dassault Systemes, Teleperformance, Pernod Ricard, Renault, Sanofi, Michelin and Schneider Electric gained 1%-3%.

Stellantis, ArcelorMittal, L'Oreal, Bouygues, Kering, Vinci, Carrefour, Accor and TotalEnergies closed with sharp to moderate losses.

In economic news, UK house prices stalled in July amid a more uncertain economic backdrop this year, data published by Lloyds Banking Group showed.

House prices posted a flat growth in July, following a 0.2% rise in June. Prices were expected to climb again by 0.2%.

On a yearly basis, house prices edged up 0.1%, slower than the 0.7% rise in June. This was the slowest annual growth since November 2023.

Lloyds Head of Mortgages Amanda Bryden said she expects market activity and house prices to remain relatively stable over the remainder of the year. "Developments will be shaped by both how mortgage rates respond to the outlook for inflation and wider household confidence," she added.

Germany's industrial production expanded in June, albeit at a slower pace, data from Destatis revealed. Industrial production logged a monthly growth of 0.2%, following May's revised 0.7% increase. Output was expected to remain flat in June.

A separate data from Destatis showed Germany's trade surplus narrowed to €15.4 billion in June from an upwardly revised €19.3 billion in May, below estimates of €17.4 billion, as imports rose more than exports. Imports rose 4.4% m-o-m to an over 3-1/2-year high of €123.9 billion in June, while exports grew by 0.9% m-o-m to a nearly four-year high of €139.3 billion in June, following an upwardly revised 1.1% gain in May.

Data from INSEE showed the unemployment rate in France rose to 8.3% in the second quarter of 2026 from 8.1% in the previous quarter. The unemployment rate was expected to come in at 8.2%. It was the highest level since the third quarter of 2020.

France's trade deficit narrowed to €5.8 billion in June 2026 from €7.9 billion in May, smaller than the expected €6.5 billion, as exports rose while imports declined. Exports rose 2.6% month-on-month to €54.5 billion, while imports fell 0.9% to €60.4 billion.