European Stocks Close On Strong Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a strong note on Friday despite concerns about slowing global growth and a massive interest rate hike by the European Central Bank.

Hectic bargain hunting at several counters pushed up prices and most of the markets in the region ended with impressive gains.

Markets also digested the latest batch of economic data and the new British Prime Minister Liz Truss's announcement regarding the ongoing energy crisis.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.52%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 surged 1.23%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 gained 1.43% and 1.41%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI advanced 1.02%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye all ended higher, posting sharp to moderate gains.

Banks, miners and energy firms were among the prominent gainers. While the hike in interest rates lifted bank stocks, shares from mining and energy sectors climbed on firm commodity prices.

In the UK market, Centrica, Anglo American Plc, Antofagasta, Glencore, Standard Chartered, Croda International Group, WPP, DCC, Scottish Mortgage, Fresnillo and Hargreaves Lansdown gained 3 to 5%.

In Paris, Faurecia soared more than 7%. Atos gained about 5.5% and WorldLine climbed nearly 5%. Schneider Electric, Valeo, Accor, Societe General, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Unibail Rodamco, STMicroElectronics, AXA and Capgemini advanced 2 to 5%.

In the German market, HelloFresh surged more than 4.5%. Fresenius, Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Bnak, Zalando, Infineon Technologies, Continental, Covestro, Daimler, Deutsche Post, Puma, BASF, E.ON and Adidas gained 2 to 4%.

On the economic front, France industrial production fell for the first time in three months in July, data published by the statistical office Insee showed.

Industrial production declined 1.6% from June, when output was up 1.2%. This was the first fall in three months. Economists had forecast a moderate 0.5% drop for July.

Likewise, manufacturing output decreased 1.6% on month, in contrast to the 0.9% increase in June.