European Stocks Close On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Friday on optimism about reforms in Germany's debt brake rule after reports said Friedrich Merz, who is likely to be sworn in as the country's next chancellor, had got the support from the Greens party to increase public borrowing that will help rise defense spending.

Slight optimism about a ceasefire in Ukraine contributed as well to the positive sentiment in the region.

Bank, defense and mining stocks were among the prominent gainers in the session.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.14%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.05%, Germany's DAX surged 1.86% and France's CAC 40 closed up 1.13%, while Switzerland's SMI advanced 0.63%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed with sharp to moderate gains. Iceland edged up marginally.

In the UK market, Melrose Industries climbed nearly 6.5%. BAE Systems rallied about 4.2%. Games Workshop, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Scottish Mortgage, EasyJet, BP, Glencore, Airtel Africa, Anglo American Plc, IAG, RightMove, Antofagasta, Polar Capital Technology, Prudential, Ashtead Group, Barclays Group and Rentokil Initial gained 2 to 3.5%.

Tesco tumbled nearly 9%. Sainsbury (J) tumbled 7.77%. Marks & Spencer declined 5.2%. WPP, Spirax Group, Reckitt Benckiser and Convatec Group lost 1 to 2.5%.

In the German market, Rheinmetall jumped 6.6%. Heidelberg Materials gained about 4.3%. Deutsche Bank, MTU Aero Engines, Fresenius Medical Care, Siemens Energy, Commerzbank, Zalando, BASF, SAP, Deutsche Boerse, Continental and Deutsche Post gained 2 to 3.5%.

Siemens and Infineon both climbed nearly 2%. Siemens Healthineers, Bayer, Adidas, Fresenius, Daimler Truck Holding, Munich RE and Brenntag also closed notably higher.

Daimler Truck Holding gained more than 1% despite reporting a 15% drop in adjusted earnings for fiscal year 2024. The company has forecast that adjusted operating profit would rise by 5% - 15% in 2025.

Daimler has also launched a billion-dollar cost-cutting programme in Europe after a poor performance in the region weighed on earnings.

Porsche ended down 1.4%. Deutsche Telekom, Qiagen, Symrise, Hannover Rueck and Volkswagen lost 0.4 to 1%.

BME ended lower by about 0.7%. The automajor's net profit fell 40.9% to 1.55 billion euros in the fourth-quarter, from last year's 2.61 billion euros.

In the French market, Thales climbed nearly 5%. Airbus Group, L'Oreal, ArcelorMittal, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Stellantis, Safran and STMicroElectronics gained 2 to 4%.

Legrand, Saint-Gobain, Hermes International, Dassault Systemes, Danone, Schneider Electric, Publicis Groupe and Bouygues also closed notably higher.

Kering ended down 10%, after an announcement that Georgian designer Demna is set to exit Balenciaga to become creative director of Gucci.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK's gross domestic product shrank 0.1% on a monthly basis in January, following a growth of 0.4% in December. GDP was expected to grow 0.1%.

In the three months to January, real GDP moved up 0.2% from the three months to October. Compared to last year, GDP growth was 1.2%.

On a yearly basis, GDP grew 1% in January, weaker than the forecast of 1.2%.

A 0.9% drop in industrial production contributed to the decline in growth in January. Industrial production has risen 0.5% in December.

The latest quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Bank of England revealed UK inflation expectations increased in February,

The one-year ahead inflation expectations rose to 3.4% in February from 3% in November. The current inflation rate is estimated to be 4.9% compared to 4.8% in November.

France's inflation fell below 1% for the first time since early 2021, as initially estimated in February, final data from the statistical office INSEE showed.

Consumer price inflation was 0.8% in February, in line with preliminary estimate, and down from 1.7% in January. This was the weakest since February 2021.

Month-on-month, the consumer price index remained flat, as estimated, following a 0.2% gain in January.

Data from the statistical office Destatis showed Germany's consumer price index rose 2.3% year-on-year in February, the same as in January. That was in line with the flash data published on February 28.

Food inflation rose to 2.4% from 0.8%, while costs for energy products were 1.6% cheaper compared to last year. Prices for services were 3.8% more expensive.

Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, eased to 2.7% in February, remaining above the general inflation trend.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.4% in February after falling 0.2% in the previous month, as estimated.