European Stocks Close Higher On Strong UK Retail Sales Data, Rate Cut Hopes

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Friday, extending recent gains, with investors cheering UK retail sales data and some encouraging corporate earnings updates. Optimism about interest rate cuts by several central banks sometime in the second half of the current year contributed as well to the positive mood in the region.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.62%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 surged 1.5%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 gained 0.42% and 0.32%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.23%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden closed higher.

Belgium, Greece and Turkiye edged up marginally. Iceland, Russia and Spain closed weak.

In the UK market, Natwest Group shares zoomed nearly 7.5% as the bank announced its biggest annual profit last year since the 2007 financial crisis.

Antofagasta surged 6%. Lloyds Banking, Weir, Rio Tinto, Prudential and Centrica climbed 3.2 to 4%.

Glencore, ICP, RS Group, Halma, Rentokil Initial, IMI, AstraZeneca, Anglo American Plc, Relx, Diploma, St. James's Place, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Fresnillo, Ashtead and 3i advanced 2 to 3%.

Airtel Africa ended down 3.3%. Ocado Group and Vodafone Group ended lower by 1.3% and 1%, respectively.

In the German market, HeidelbergCement climbed 3%. MTU Aero Engines, Bayer, Porsche, Sartorius, Siemens Healthineers, BMW, Adidas, Siemens, Mercedes-Benz and BASF gained 1 to 2%.

Commerzbank ended down 2.2%. Munich RE, Zalando, Hannover Rueck, RWE and E.ON lost 0.8 to 1.25%.

In Paris, Eurofins Scientific rallied 4.3%. Safran gained about 2.8%. Schneider Electric, Legrand, ArcelorMittal, Alstom, Dassault Systemes, L'Oreal and Kering advanced 1 to 2%.

Renault dropped about 4.7%. Airbus Group and Vinci both ended lower by 1.75%.

Shares of Finnish mining equipment maker Metso soared 9% after the company gave an upbeat outlook after reporting better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.

Italian financial group Unipol Gruppo surged 21 percent after an announcement that it intends to buy out its unit UnipolSai MIL:US.

In economic news, U. K. retail sales grew at the fastest pace since early 2021 underscoring that consumer spending is set to provide boost to the economic recovery in the first quarter of 2024.

Retail sales volumes rebounded 3.4% in January, following a record fall of 3.3% in December, the Office for National Statistics said. This was the largest monthly rise since April 2021. Economists had forecast a moderate growth of 1.5%.

Wholesale prices in Germany rose for the first time in four months in January, though they continued to fall compared to the same month last year mainly due to the decline in prices of mineral oil products, preliminary data from the statistical office Destatis showed.

The wholesale price index rose 0.1% from the previous month after a revised 0.6% fall in December. Economists had forecast a 0.4% decline. This was the first monthly increase since September 2023, when wholesale prices rose 0.2%.

On a year-on-year basis, wholesale prices fell 2.7% following a 2.6% decline in December. Prices decreased for the tenth month in a row.