European Stocks Close On Firm Note As Investors Digest Earnings, Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a firm note on Friday, with many of the markets recovering after having dropped to multi-month lows in recent sessions. Fairly encouraging economic data from the U.S., and some good earnings updates from European companies helped underpin sentiment in the markets.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.83%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended up 1.21%, Germany's DAX gained 0.65% and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 1.22%, while Switzerland's SMI closed stronger by 1.12%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Denmark, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended weak, while Austria edged up marginally.

In the UK market, Natwest Group surged more than 7%.

Anglo American Plc gained a little over 5%. Intertek Group and Burberry Group gained about 4.3% and 4.2%, respectively. JD Sports Fashion, Diploma, IMI, Vistry Group, Experian, Airtel Africa, Ashtead Group, Rolls-Royce Holding, Beazley, Reckitt Benckiser, ICG, Compass Group, Unite Group and B&M European Value Retail gained 2 to 3.3%.

Segro, RightMove, Pershing Square Holdings, Hargreaves Lansdown and Fresnillo ended weak.

In the German market, Sartorius climbed about 7%. Rheinmetall, Puma, Merck, Qiagen, Siemens Energy and HeidelbergCement gained 2 to 4%.

MTU Aero Engines, Adidas, Zalando, Munich RE, Porsche and Brenntag ended higher by 1 to 1.8%.

BASF ended down 2.3%. Fresenius Medical Care and Commerzbank ended lower by 1.5% and 1.25%, respectively. BMW ended down 0.7%.

In the French market, Essilor rallied more than 7% after reporting strong financial performance for the first half of 2024.

Saint Gobain, Dassault Systemes, Vinci and Eurofins Scientific gained 3 to 4.3%.

Hermes International gained about 4%. The Birkin-bag maker reported a 13% rise in second-quarter sales, defying the luxury downturn.

Teleperformance, Kering, L'Oreal, LVMH, Schneider Electric, Safran, Legrand, Air Liquide, Airbus, Engie, Pernod Ricard and Danone advanced 1 to 2.3%.

Unibail Rodamco dropped more than 5%. STMicroElectronics ended down 4.2%, and Stellantis closed 3.2% down. Accor and Vivendi also ended notably lower.

Capgemini ended weak. The IT consulting group expects its annual revenue to fall between 0.5% and 1.5%, compared with the earlier expectation of 0-3% rise.

On the economic front, Eurozone consumers' inflation expectations remained stable in July, the latest consumer expectations survey published by the European Central Bank showed.

Inflation expectations for the coming year was steady at 2.8% after having fallen in May to their lowest level since September 2021. Inflation expectations for the next three years also remained unchanged in July.

France's consumer confidence improved slightly in July ahead of Olympic Games, survey results from the statistical office INSEE showed on Friday. The consumer confidence index climbed to 91 in July from revised 90 in June. The index remained below its long-term average. The score was forecast to rise to 90 from June's initially estimated value of 89.

In U.S. economic news, a report from the Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index inched up by 0.1% in June after coming in unchanged in May.

The report also said the annual rate of growth by the PCE price index slowed to 2.5% in June from 2.6% in May.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the core PCE price index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by 0.2% in June after inching up by 0.1% in May. Economists had expected another 0.1% uptick.

The annual rate of growth by the core PCE price index was unchanged from the previous month at 2.6% in June, while economists had expected the pace of growth to slow to 2.5%.