European Stocks End On Mixed Note After Choppy Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks ended on a mixed note on Friday after a somewhat choppy session with investors looking for directional clues and making largely cautious moves amid persisting worries about rate hikes and a possible recession.

Investors digested data on eurozone inflation and a report on manufacturing activity in the U.K., and also reacted to comments from ECB policymaker and fiscal hawk Robert Holzmann.

Holzmann said in an interview with Austrian newspaper Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten that he would have preferred earlier moves on interest rates than the ECB's current plan to raise them in July for the first time in more than a decade.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.02% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.01% down. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.23% and 0.14%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI ended higher by 0.27%.

The Stoxx 600 posted a weekly loss of 1.5%. The DAX and CAC 40 both shed about 2.3%, while the FTSE drifted down 0.6% in the week.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain ended weak.

Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden and Turkey closed higher, while Russia ended flat.

In the UK market, Ocado Group, SSE, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Melrose Industries, Compass Group, Ashtead Group, Coca-Cola HBC, Unilever and Next gained 2 to 4.3%.

Gene and cell therapy company Oxford Biomedica surged 2.6% after it signed a new three-year master services & development agreement with AstraZeneca U.K.

Harbour Energy plunged more than 8.5%. Glencore, Anglo American Plc, Endeavour Mining, ABRDN, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto lost 1.7 to 4.2%.

In Germany, RWE and Zalando gained about 5% and 4.7%, respectively. Merck, E.ON, Sartorius, MTU Aero Engines, Munich RE, Qiagen and Deutsche Telekom moved up 1.4 to 3%.

TUI jumped 3%. The travel and tourism company said it has again repaid state aid from the Corona program and also reduced credit lines.

Infineon Technologies, Deutsche Boerse and Deutsche Bank lost 3.3 to 3.6%. Covestro, Siemens and Linde also ended notably lower.

In the French market, Sodexo gained about 2%. The French catering and food services group confirmed its FY outlook after reporting a 23 percent rise in Q3 revenues.

Airbus Group, Thales, Renault and Veolia gained 2 to 4%. Engie, Air France-KLM and Teleperformance gained 1 to 2%.

STMicroElectronics, Bouygues, Schneider Electric, Vivendi, Air Liquide and Atos shed 1 to 2.7%.

On the economic front, Eurozone inflation accelerated further in June to a new record high on surging energy prices, flash data from Eurostat showed. The harmonized index of consumer prices advanced by 8.6% on a yearly basis in June, faster than the 8.1% rise in May and economists' forecast of 8.4%.

On a monthly basis, the HICP was up 0.8%. The final data is due on July 19.

The eurozone manufacturing activity grew at the weakest pace in nearly two years in June on weaker production and new orders, final data from S&P Global showed. The manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a 22-month low of 52.1 in June from 54.6 in May. The flash score was 52.0. The headline figure dropped for the fifth consecutive month in June.

The UK manufacturing sector expanded at a much slower pace in June as output growth grind to a near- standstill pace and new work intake contracted for the first time in more than a year, final data from the S&P Global showed. The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply final factory Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a two-year low of 52.8 in June from 54.6 in May.

UK mortgage lending increased to the highest since last September and mortgage approvals rose unexpectedly in May despite the squeeze on real income from rising inflation and interest rates, official data showed on Friday.