European Stocks Close Sharply Higher On Easing Worries About U.S. Debt, Interest Rates

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed sharply higher on Friday with investors cheering the passage of the U.S. debt ceiling bill, and upbeat non-farm payroll data, as well as data showing a rebound in France's industrial production.

France's industrial production rebounded in April with the sharp recovery in petroleum output, the statistical office INSEE showed. Industrial output logged a monthly growth of 0.8%, reversing the 1.1% decrease in March. Production was expected to climb 0.3%.

Data from the Labor Department showed non-farm employment soared by 339,000 jobs in May after spiking by an upwardly revised 294,000 jobs in April.

Economists had expected employment to climb by 190,000 jobs compared to the jump of 253,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in May from 3.4% in April. The unemployment rate was expected to inch up to 3.5%.

On the debt ceiling bill front, the Senate voted to pass the bill raising the U.S. debt ceiling late Thursday night.

The Senate voted 63 to 36 in favor of the debt ceiling bill, with 17 Republicans joining with the majority of Democrats to approve the legislation.

Following the House approval of the bill Wednesday night, the bill now heads to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign the legislation later today.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.51%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.56%, Germany's DAX advanced 1.25% and France's CAC 40 surged 1.87%, while Switzerland's SMI jumped 1.3%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye ended sharply higher.

Greece closed modestly up, while Denmark, Iceland and Russia ended weak.

In the UK market, Prudential, Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc gained 5 to 5.7%. Glencore, WEIR Group, Rio Tinto, Scottish Mortgage, Standard Chartered, Smurfit Kappa Group, Ashtead Group, Legal & Generale, Mondi and Land Securities ended higher by 3 to 4.1%.

JD Sports Fashion, Admiral Group, Smith (DS), BP, British Land, Barratt Developments, Barclays, Segro, Aviva, M&G, ABRDN, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Persimmon climbed 2.5 to 3%.

BT Group declined 3.3%. Vodafone Group, SSE and Hiscox ended modestly lower.

In the German market, Covestro, Puma, Adidas, Continental, Vonvoia, BASF, Sartorius and Daimler Truck Holding gained 3.3 to 5.5%.

Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen, Allianz, BMW, Zalando, HeidelbergCement and Mercedes-Benz moved up 2 to 3%.

Deutsche Telekom tanked more than 9%.

In Paris, Unibail Rodamco, Renault, ArcelorMittal and Societe Generale surged 4.2 to 5.4%.

Saint Gobain, BNP Paribas, Alstom, LVMH, Essilor, Stellantis, Michelin, TotalEnergies, Hermes International and Credit Agricole ended higher by 2.5 to 4%.