European Stocks Close Notably Lower As Growth Worries Rate Concerns Weigh

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed notably lower on Friday as concerns about interest rates, inflation and geopolitical tensions outweighed stronger than expected earnings updates from some major U.S. lenders.

Higher producer price and consumer price inflation readings from the U.S. have raised concerns the Federal Reserve will continue to keep interest rates higher for longer.

Comments from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey that future rate decisions by the central bank would continue to be tight weighed as well.

Major U.S. banks JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup all reported stronger than expected third quarter earnings.

The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 0.98%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.59%, Germany's DAX drifted down 1.55% and France's CAC shed 1.42%, while Switzerland's SMI lost 0.72%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak.

Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Poland and Russia ended higher.

Eurozone industrial production recovered in August driven by the rebound in capital goods and durable consumer goods output, Eurostat said on Friday.

Industrial output grew by more-than-expected 0.6% on a monthly basis in August, in contrast to the 1.3% decrease in the previous month. Output was forecast to rise 0.1%.

On a yearly basis, the decline in industrial production deepened to 5.1% from 2.2% in July. This was worse than economists' forecast of 3.5% decrease.

In the UK market, St. James's Place shares plunged 21% on reports it is under pressure from regulators to overhaul its fee structure.

JD Sports Fashion, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Just Eat Takeaway.com, Hargreaves Lansdown, ITV, Easyjet and British American Tobacco lost 3.5 to 4.8%.

ICP, Schrodders, Prudential, Hiscox, M&G, IAG, Whitbread, Informa, Persimmon, Halma and Scottish Mortgage declined 2 to 3%.

Fresnillo rallied about 4.5%. BP gained 2.1%, while United Utilities, National Grid, Royal Dutch Shell, Severn Trent and BAE Systems advanced 1 to 1.75%.

In the German market, Sartorius tumbled 13.3% after reporting a decline in sales for the first nine months of 2023 and cutting its FY23 outlook.

Puma, Siemens Energy, Merck, Qiagen, Infineon, SAP, Siemens and Commerzbank lost 2 to 3.5%. Continental, Allianz, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, Adidas and Mercedes-Benz ended lower by 1.3 to 1.8%.

In Paris, WorldLine, Eurofins Scientific, Alstom, BNP Paribas, Airbus Group, STMicroElectronics, Societe Generale, Legrand, Renault, Kering, Capgemini, Credit Agricole, Michelin and LVMH lost 2 to 4.3%.

TotalEnergies climbed 1.6%. Thales, Orange and Engie posted moderate gains.