European Stocks Close Higher

(RTTNews) - Despite lingering uncertainty about U.S. government's trade policy, European stocks closed higher on Friday, with German and French markets gaining for a fourth straight session, and the U.K. moving up for the tenth consecutive session, as investors focused on earnings.

The mood remained positive amid hopes the tensions between the U.S. and China may de-escalate as reports said China will likely remove its 125% tariff on some U.S. imports.

A somewhat softer tone of the U.S. President Donald Trump toward China has also helped ease concerns about a trade war.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.32%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.11%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 gained 0.65% and 0.43%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI settled higher by 0.21%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher.

Denmark, Poland and Turkiye closed weak, while Greece ended flat.

In the German market, MTU Aero Engines and Brenntag both gained about 4.5%. Heidelberg Materials, Siemens, Bayer, Daimler Truck Holding, Siemens Healthineers, Deutsche Bank, Continental, BMW, SAP, Infineon, Merck, Siemens Energy, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz gained 1.3 to 4%.

BASF, Fresenius Medical Care, Allianz, Deutsche Post and Deutsche Boerse also closed higher.

Deutsche Telekom closed down nearly 5%. Zalando ended 4.4% down, and Commerzbank lost about 2.1%. Puma, Qiagen, Beiersdorf and E.On also closed weak.

In the UK market, Melrose Industries, Entain, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Centrica, St. James's Plae, Intermediate Capital Group, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Schroders, Mondi, IAG and Scottish Mortgage gained 1.5 to 4%.

Unilever, Marks & Spencer, Fresnillo, Pearson, Hiscox, Endeavour Mining, Rio Tinto, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and British American Tobacco lost 1 to 2.3%.

In Paris, Accor rallied more than 6%. Saint-Gobain and Safran gained about 4% and 4.4%, respectively.

Safran rallied after reporting stronger-than-expected revenue for the first quarter and confirming its FY25 outlook. The company reported adjusted revenue of 7.26 billion euros in the first quarter, up 16.7% from last year's 6.22 billion euros. Adjusted revenues at constant currency grew 2.3%, and the growth was 13.9 % organically.

Schneider Electric, Airbus, Societe Generale, Publicis Groupe, Micheli, ArecelorMittal, Dassault Systemes, Credit Agricole and TotalEnerges climbed 1 to 2.5%.

Edenred tanked more than 16%. Engie lost about 7.1%, while Thales and Orange lost 3% and 2.8%, respectively. Capgemini, L'Oreal and Sanofi also ended weak.

Data from the statistical office INSEE revealed that the confidence among French manufacturers rebounded strongly in April to the strongest level in nearly a year.

The manufacturing sentiment index rose to 99 in April from 96.0 in February. Moreover, the index moved closer to its long-term average of 100, and a similar reading was last seen in May 2024. Meanwhile, the score was expected to remain stable at 96.0.

The index measuring personal production expectations improved notably to 11 in April from 6.0 in the previous month. Similarly, producers' past production situation strengthened to 1.0 from -3.0 in March.

Data showed that the index measuring overall order books increased sharply to -18 from -26, while general production expectations showed more negative, and the corresponding index fell to -16 from -11.

A report from the Office for National Statistics said UK retail sales grew unexpectedly in March as good weather boosted sales of clothing and outdoor retailers.

Retail sales grew 0.4% on a monthly basis, confounding expectations for a decline of 0.3%, the report showed. However, this was slower than the 0.7% increase in February and marked the third consecutive increase.

Excluding auto fuel, retail sales gained 0.5% after a 0.7% rise. Sales were expected to drop 0.4%.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth advanced to 2.6% from 1.8% in February. Similarly, core retail sales growth improved to 3.3% from 1.8%.