European Stocks Close Higher On Bargain Hunting After Recent Weakness

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Friday with many markets snapping a long losing streak, with bargain hunting in technology and luxury sectors contributing to the rise in prices.

Still, lingering concerns about global economic slowdown and inflation, and possibility of further tightening by some central banks, including the Federal Reserve, rendered the mood a bit cautious.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.22%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.49%, Germany's DAX edged up 0.14% and France's CAC 40 surged 0.62%, while Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.44%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Spain climbed higher.

Finland, Iceland, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak, while Netherlands ended flat.

In the UK market, GlaxoSmithKline surged more than 4%. Entain climbed about 3.75%. JD Sports Fashion, Compass Group, Hiscox, Pearson, Flutter Entertainment, Next, Intertek and Centrica gained 1.5 to 2.7%.

Burberry Group, Legal & General, Royal Mail, Carnival, Whitbread, Tesco, Informa and The Sage Group also ended notably higher.

Melrose Industries dropped nearly 5%. Smurfit Kappa Group ended 3.4% down, while BT, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Ds Smith and Mondi declined 1.2 to 1.6%.

In the German market, Covestro soared nearly 8%. Commerzbank, Puma, Volkswagen, Deutsche Boerse and SAP gained 1 to 2%.

Zalando drifted down more than 5%. MTU Aero Engines, Sartorius, Fresenius Medical Care, Siemens Healthineers, Merck, Siemens Energy, Qiagen, HeidelbergCement and BASF ended lower by 1.4 to 3%.

In Paris, WorldLine rallied 3.3%. LVMH gained about 2.2% after the President and CEO of the company, Bernard Arnault bought €215 million in LMVH stock

Publicis Groupe, Carrefour, Veolia, Kering and L'Oreal gained 1.5 to 2%.

Michelin and Alstom both ended lower by about 1.4%. Renault, Eurofins Scientific, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas also ended weak.

On the economic front, Germany's inflation slowed marginally to 6.1% in August from 6.2% a month earlier, as estimated but the rate remained elevated due to the increases in energy and food prices, final data from Destatis revealed.

France's industrial production rose 0.8% in July, led by a rebound in manufacturing, preliminary data from the statistical office INSEE showed, though the momentum is unlikely to be sustained in the coming months amid weakening demand globally and high interest rates. Economists had forecast a modest 0.1% growth.

Manufacturing output grew 0.7% after a 1.1% decline in the previous month, which was revised from 1%. Within manufacturing, production of transport equipment rebounded in July with a 0.8% growth.

UK permanent job placements declined the most in over three years in August as weaker economic outlook weighed on hiring policy, while candidate availability continued to increase, a survey report compiled by S&P Global showed.

Permanent staff appointments decreased at the fastest rate in over three years in August, the KPMG/REC Report on Jobs said. At the same time, temp billings fell for the first time since July 2020.