European Stocks Turn In Another Good Performance, End On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks continued their winning streak as easing concerns about policy tightening, and strong earnings from some top U.S. banks helped underpin sentiment on Friday.

Signs of cooling inflation prompted speculation that the Fed and other central banks may postpone or scale back plans for interest rate hikes to support growth.

Figures from Destatis revealed earlier today that Germany's wholesale price inflation slowed to the lowest level in more than two years in March, easing to 2% in the month, from 8.9% in February.

France's consumer price index climbed 5.7% year-over-year in March, slower than the 6.3% rise in February, the statistical office Insee reported. That was just above the 5.6% growth seen in the flash data published on March 31.

The German economy is likely to grow marginally in the first quarter as easing supply chain disruptions, the fall in energy prices and favorable weather conditions boosted industrial and construction output, the Economy Ministry said in a report published.

The noticeable revival of economic activity will help the largest euro area economy to avoid a technical recession, the ministry noted.

Bank stocks were among the prominent gainers in the European markets today, buoyed by stronger than expected earnings by U.S. lenders JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.58%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.36%, Germany's DAX surged 0.5% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.52%, while Switzerland's SMI gained 0.75%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Iceland and Turkiye ended weak. Portugal edged down marginally, while Netherlands settled flat.

In the UK market, Standard Chartered rallied nearly 4.5%. Barclays and HSBC Holdings gained 3.25% and 3%, respectively.

Persimmon, Kingfisher, M&G, Whitbread, Phoenix Group Holdings and Weir Group gained 2 to 3.4%.

William Hill owner 888 Holdings soared more than 20% after it reported a double-digit rise in its annual revenue and higher adjusted earnings.

Shares of veterinary pharmaceuticals firm Dechra zoomed nearly 34% after the company confirmed it is in talks with private equity group EQT for a possible offer in a 4.63 billion pound all-cash deal.

Hiscox, Admiral Group, Beazley, National Grid, Melrose Industries, Fresnillo, United Utilities Group, Rio Tinto, Fltter Entertainment, Severn Trent, Anglo American Plc and Endeavour Mining lost 1 to 3%.

In the German market, Commerzbank surged nearly 6%. Deutsche Bank climbed more than 4.5%. Fresenius Medical Care, Puma, Continental, Vonovia, Covestro and HeidelbergCement gained 2 to 4%.

Deutsche Boerse, MTU Aero Engines, Siemens Healthineers, Beiersdorf and RWE drifted down 1 to 1.5%.

In Paris, Societe Generale gained about 3.6%, BNP Paribas surged 3.2% and Credit Agricole gained about 2.3%.

Stellantis, WorldLine, Legrand, Bouygues, Schneider Electric, Saint Gobain and Hermes International also posted strong gains.

Alstom drifted down 3%. AXA ended 1.2% down, while Teleperformance, Engie, Orange, Safran, Vinci and L'Oreal shed 0.8 to 1%.