European Stocks Close Higher

(RTTNews) - stocks closed broadly higher on Friday, and the U.K.'s benchmark FTSE 100 hit a record high, as investors reacted to a slew of corporate earnings updates, the latest batch of economic data, and the interest rate moves by major central banks.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.34%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 surged 1.04% as Pound Sterling France's CAC 40 gained 0.94%, while Germany's DAX ended 0.21% down. Switzerland's SMI ended 1.44% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Portugal ended weak, while Finland, Poland and Spain settled flat.

In the UK market, Haleon, B&M European Value Retail, Smith & Nephew, Shell, AstraZeneca and Reckitt Benckiser gained 3 to 3.5%.

JD Sports Fashion rallied 2.84%. Compass Group, Airtel Africa, BAE Systems, BT Group, Unilever, Glencore, Informa, WPP, Smurfit Kappa Group and BP also ended sharply higher.

Vodafone Group and Segro lost 3.9% and 3.83%, respectively. Centrica, Persimmon, Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey and Natwest Group also declined sharply.

In Paris, Publicis Groupe gained more than 5.5%.

Essilor surged more than 4.5%. Eurofins Scientific, LVMH, TotalEnergies, Hermes International, L'Oreal, Pernod Ricard, Engie, Legrand, STMicroElectronics and Schneider Electric gained 1 to 3%.

Teleperformance and Sanofi both lost more than 2%. Air Liquide, Vivendi, Alstom, WorldLine and Airbus Group ended lower by 1 to 1.4%.

In the German market, Adidas, Infineon Technologies, Continental, Zalando, Merck, Puma and Sartorius gained 1 to 2%.

Porsche, Vonovia and Siemens Energy drifted down 2.3 to 3%. Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Boerse, HeidelbergCement, Daimler and RWE lost 1 to 2%.

In economic news, French industrial production rose more than expected in December as manufacturing was boosted by the strong growth in the transport equipment segment, preliminary data from the statistical office INSEE showed.

The industrial production index rose 1.1% from November, when it grew 2%. Economists were looking for a 0.2% increase.

Manufacturing output rose 0.3% month-on-month after a 2.4% gain in November.

Eurozone producer price inflation eased for the fourth consecutive month in December to the lowest level in just over a year, as energy prices continued to rise at a slower rate, data from the statistical office Eurostat showed.

The producer price index registered an annual increase of 24.6% after a revised 27% surge in November. Economists had forecast inflation to ease to 22.5%.

UK service providers reported another reduction in their business activity at the start of the year largely due to subdued spending by both businesses and consumers, final results of the Purchasing Managers' survey from S&P Global revealed Friday.

The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 48.7 from 49.9 in the previous month.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report said non-farm payroll employment soared by 517,000 jobs in January after surging by an upwardly revised 260,000 jobs in December.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 185,000 jobs compared to the addition of 223,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 3.4% in January from 3.5% in December. The dip surprised economists, who had expected the unemployment rate to inch up to 3.6%.

With the unexpected decrease, the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since hitting a matching rate in May 1969.

While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, the data led to concerns the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates higher than currently anticipated.