European Stocks Close First Trading Session Of New Year On Bright Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks shrugged off early weakness and closed on a positive note on Thursday, the first trading session in 2025, despite data showing a sharp contraction in manufacturing activity in most of the major economies in the region in the month of December, persisting concerns on the geopolitical front.

Automobile stocks underperformed amid concerns over U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats. Energy stocks gained as oil prices climbed higher.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.6%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.07%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.58% and France's CAC 40 closed up 0.18%. The Switzerland market remained closed for New Year holidays.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed with sharp to moderate gains. Ireland ended flat.

In the UK market, Endeavour Mining climbed nearly 5% and Fresnillo gained 4.5%. Marks & Spencer, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Airtel Africa, Centrica, Glencore, BP, Pershing Square Holdings, British American Tobacco, Hiscox, BT Group, Next, Shell and Whitbread gained 2 to 4%.

AstraZeneca, Coca-Cola HBC and 3i Group also ended sharply higher.

Howden Joinery, St. James's Place, Persimmon and Intertek Group lost 1 to 2%.

In the German market, RWE, E.ON and Hannover Rueck climbed 2 to 3%. Brenntag, Qiagen, HeidelbergCement, Vonovia, Deutsche Bank, SAP, Deutsche Telekom and Munich RE also closed with solid gains.

Rheinmetall closed down nearly by nearly 2.5%. Volkswagen, Henkel, Fresenius Medical Care, Mercedes-Benz, Continental, BMW, Commerzbank, Daimler Truck Holding and Sartorius lost 0.6 to 2%.

In the French market, Airbus Group shares gained more than 3%. Safran, Michelin, Engie, Orange, Sanofi, TotalEnergies, ArcelorMittal and Unibail Rodamco climbed 0.7 to 1.7%.

In economic news, the euro area manufacturing sector continued to shrink in December on accelerated contractions in both orders and output, final data compiled by S&P Global showed. The HCOB manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell slightly to a three-month low of 45.1 in December from 45.2 in November. The flash reading was 45.2.

Data from S&P Global said the HCOB Germany Manufacturing PMI came in with a reading of 42.5 in December, down from reading of 43 in both October and November. Sharp declines in output and new orders amid weak demand contributed to the contraction.

Final data from S&P Global confirmed that the HCOB France Manufacturing PMI dropped to 41.9 in December from 43.1 in November. That marked the sharpest decline in manufacturing activity since May 2020.

Final survey data from S&P Global revealed that the UK manufacturing sector deteriorated at the steepest pace in nearly a year in December, as output and new orders and employment fell at faster rates.

The manufacturing purchasing managers' index dropped to 47.0 in December from 48.0 in November. The flash reading was also 47.3.

U.K. house prices grew 4.7% year-on-year in December, faster than the 3.7% increase in November and also stronger than economists' forecast of 3.8% gain, data from the Nationwide Building Society showed earlier today. At the same time, on a monthly basis, house price inflation softened to 0.7% from 1.2% in November.