Major European Markets Close On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The major European markets closed on a firm note on Friday even as other markets in the region turned in a mixed performance, with investors digesting the latest batch of regional economic data and earnings news.

Investors also kept an eye on some key events in the U.S., including data releases and President Donald Trump's announcement nominating Kevin Warsh for the post of Fed Chair.

Reports about U.S. lawmakers reaching a bipartisan funding deal to avoid a government shutdown aided sentiment to some extent.

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed up by 0.64%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.51%, Germany's DAX ended with a gain of 0.68% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.68%. Switzerland's SMI settled 0.31% up.

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain settled on the positive side.

Greece, Iceland, Poland, Russia and Sweden ended weak, while Czech Republic, Finland and Turkiye closed flat.

In the UK market, gains in financials and consumer sectors offset losses in the mining sector.

Lloyds Banking Group gained 3.3% as it launched a share buyback program to repurchase up to £1.75 billion of its ordinary shares.

Natwest Group, Barclays, Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings gained 1.2%-2%.

Smiths & Nephew, Experian, Diageo, IAG and Haleon moved up 2%-2.35%. Kingfisher, Reckitt Benckiser, Sainsbury (J), Imperial Brands, GSK, Unilever, GSK, Scottish Mortgage, Pearson, British American Tobacco and Tesco also ended with strong gains.

Endeavour Mining fell more than 6.5%. Fresnillo lost 5.1%, Antofagasta drifted down 3.65% and Anglo American Plc ended 2.6% down, while Glencore and Rio Tinto lost 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively.

Airtel Africa closed 6.6% down. Metlen Energy & Metals ended lower by 3.3%. Mondi, Entain, 3i Group, Persimmon, Burberry Group, Rentokil Initial, Babcock International, Barratt Redrow and Weir Group lost 1%-2.7%.

In the German market, SAP gained about 4.2%. Adidas moved up 3.7% after reporting record revenues in 2025 and announcing a 1-billion-euro ($1.2 billion) stock buyback.

Deutsche Telekom, Brenntag, Deutsche Bank, Henkel, Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Boerse, Scout24, Beiersdorf and Fresenius gained 1%-2.6%.

Vonovia, Rheinmetall, Volkswagen, Continental and Infineon closed weak.

In the French market, Edenred, Sanofi, TP, Societe Generale, Capgemini, Eurofins Scientific, Stellantis, Pernod Ricard, Dassault Systemes, EssilorLuxottica, Accor, Engie, LVMH and STMicroElectronics closed up by 1%-3%.

Legrand, Saint-Gobain and Carrefour ended weak.

A report from the Bank of England showed net mortgage approvals for house purchase in UK fell by 3,100 to 61,013 in December. This was the lowest since June 2024.

Consumer credit fell to GBP 1.5 billion in December from GBP 2.1 billion in November. Nonetheless, the annual growth in consumer credit remained unchanged at 8.2%.

Further, UK businesses borrowed a GBP 1.0 billion from banks and building societies, following net borrowing of GBP 6.2 billion in November, data showed.

Data from Destatis showed import prices in Germany declined 2.3% in December from a year ago, following a 1.9% drop in November. However, the decline was slower than economists' forecast of 2.6% fall. Month-on-month, import prices edged down 0.1%, in contrast to the 0.5% rise in November. Prices were expected to fall 0.4%.

Export prices remained flat on a yearly basis compared to the 0.3% rise in November. On a monthly basis, export prices slid 0.1%. In 2025 as a whole, import prices decreased 0.3% compared with 2024 and export prices increased 1%, data showed.

A separate data from the federal statistical office showed the German economy expanded 0.3% on quarter in the last three months of 2025, the strongest performance in three quarters, compared to a flat reading in the previous period and above forecasts of 0.2%, preliminary estimates showed.

For 2026, the German government forecasts economic growth of 1%. Growth in 2027 is seen at 1.3%.

Germany's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 6.3% in January 2026, highlighting a sluggish and uneven recovery in Europe's largest labor market. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, unemployment rose by 176,600 to 3.08 million, marking its highest level in nearly 12 years.

A preliminary reading on consumer price inflation for the month of January is due later in the day.

The French economy grew at a slower pace towards the end of the year as political and fiscal uncertainty weighed on investment and consumption, official data revealed on Friday.

Gross domestic product posted a quarterly growth of 0.2% in the fourth quarter, the statistical office INSEE reported. The rate came in line with expectations and followed third quarter's 0.5% expansion and the 0.3% rise in the second quarter.

Overall economic growth in 2025 softened to 0.9% from 1.1% in 2024.

The 2026 outlook is moderately positive, with GDP growth expected to reach around 1%. Growth could reach 1.1% next year but political and fiscal risks remain elevated, ING economist Charlotte de Montpellier said.

Another report from INSEE showed household consumption in France dropped 0.6% in December, worse than November's 0.3% decrease.

In a separate report, the INSEE said domestic producer prices declined 2% in December from a year ago, sharper than November's 1.5% drop. At the same time, the monthly growth eased to 0.2% from 2.8% in November.

Data from Eurostat said the euro area unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in December, while the rate was expected to remain unchanged at 6.3%. The youth unemployment rate dropped slightly to 14.3% from 14.4% in November.

The overall unemployment rate in the EU was stable at 5.9% in December.