European Stocks End On Mixed Note After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Friday as investors made cautious moves amid uncertainty over the outlook for the AI trade and possibility of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve in December. Optimism about corporate earnings aided sentiment a bit.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned Thursday after his extramarital affair with a Chinese businesswoman who reportedly was also acting as a spy for Beijing raised U.S. national security concerns.

Jensen Huang, who served at the top post for 33 years, has been summoned to testify before a Congressional panel regarding his alleged affair with a businesswoman suspected of being a Chinese spy.

Energy stocks gained ground in positive territory as oil prices rebounded after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington could forgo a deal with Tehran.

Brent crude futures retreated after climbing to $97.13 a barrel.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.02% up. The UK's FTSE 100 climbed 0.36% and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.09%, while Germany's DAX settled lower by 0.08%. Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.29%.

Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed higher.

Austria, Finland, Greece, Iceland and Ireland ended weak, while Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden closed flat.

In the UK market, Polar Capital Technology Trust dropped 3.4%. 3i Group, Antofagasta, Computacenter, Anglo American Plc, Weir, Scottish Mortgage, Pershing Square Holdings, Rolls-Royce Holdings, ICG, F&C Investment Trust, Melrose Industries and Glencore lost 1%-2.3%.

Aviva gained about 3.4% after reporting strong trading update. The insurance and financial services group said general insurance premiums increased 19% to £11.8 billion in the first nine months of this year, from £10 billion in the prior-year period.

UK and Ireland general insurance premiums grew 27% to £8.5 billion, while Canada premiums rose 2% on a constant currency basis to £3.3 billion. Assets under management increased 19% to £267 billion from £224 billion, while net flows rose 31% to £10.9 billion. Wealth customer numbers exceeded 6.1 million.

Centrica surged nearly 4%. Associated British Tobacco climbed 2.3%. Autotrader Group, Sainsbury (J), Imperial Brands, Relx, SSE, Shell, Tesco, Unilever, Spirax, BP, Diageo, British American Tobacco, St. James's Place, Admiral Group and Haleon advanced 1%-2%.

In the German market, Infineon lost more than 4%. Hochtief ended down 2.5%. MTU Aero Engines, Heidelberg Materials, Porsche Automobil Holding, Rheinmetall, Vonovia, Siemens and Siemens Energy shed 0.8%-1.25%.

Brenntag moved up 2.3%. E.ON, Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Boerse, Munich Re, Allianz, Henkel and Hannover RE gained 0.9%-1.7%.

In the French market, ArcelorMittal shed more than 3%. Kering ended down 2.2%. Safran, Legrand, STMicroElectronics, Airbus and Stellantis also ended notably lower.

Teleperformance rallied more than 2.5%. TotalEnergies, Pernod Ricard, Danone, EssilorLuxottica, Carrefour, Edenred, Bureau Veritas, Orange, L'Oreal, AXA, Renault, Dassault Systemes and Bouygues gained 0.7%-1.8%.

In economic news, data released by Destatis showed German wholesale prices increased at the fastest pace in more than three years in October due to elevated energy prices. Wholesale prices climbed 8.8% on a yearly basis in October, marking the strongest rise since February 2023. This followed September's 8.7% increase.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices were up 0.4% in October, in line with expectations. Prices had increased 1.9% in September.

The euro area economy expanded as initially estimated in the third quarter, flash estimate published by Eurostat showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.4% sequentially, following the second quarter's 0.6% expansion.

On a yearly basis, economic growth improved to 1.3%, in line with estimate, from 1.2% in the preceding period.

The EU economy grew 0.5% sequentially taking the annual growth to 1.5% in the third quarter. Both rates matched preliminary estimates.

Data showed that euro area employment remained stable in the third quarter after rising 0.1% in the second quarter. Year-on-year, employment growth eased to 0.4% from 0.5%.

Data from Eurostat showed Eurozone trade deficit came in at Euro 10.3 billion in September, compared with Euro 13.5 billion in the same month last year.

Eurozone GDP climbed 1.3% in the third quarter, compared with a 1.2% rise in the year-ago quarter.