Major European Markets Close On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - Despite a fairly good spell in positive territory till noon, European stocks failed to sustain at higher levels and ended on a mixed note on Friday. Investors digested the economic data from the region as well from the U.S., and looked ahead to next week's monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.

An unexpected slowdown in the annual rate of U.S. core price growth has reinforced recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of next week's Fed meeting.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.01%, The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down by 0.45%, and France's CAC 40 settled 0.09% down, while Germany's DAX climbed 0.61%. Switzerland's SMI climbed 0.31%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Poland, Portugal and Spain ended weak, while Austria and Ireland closed flat.

In the UK market, RightMove climbed 3.3%. JD Sports Fashion, Smith & Nephew and 3i Group gained 2.4 to 2.8%.

ICG, Croda International, Burberry Group, WPP, Halma, Reckitt Benckiser, St. James's Place, Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc also ended notably higher.

Smiths Group, Metlen Energy & Metals and BP lost 3.5%, 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively. LondonMetric Property, Severn Trent, Airtel Africa, Standard Chartered, Prudential, Imperial Brands, Vodafone Group and Shell lost 1.4 to 2%.

In the German market, BMW rallied nearly 4%. Infineon climbed 2.8% and BASF closed up by about 2.3%. Mercedes-Benz, Siemens Healthineers, Siemens, Adidas, Porsche Automobil Holdings, Volkswagen, MTU Aero Engines, Scout24, SAP and Deutsche Boerse also posted impressive gains.

RWE, Hannover Rueck, E.ON, Bayer and Munich RE closed weak.

In the French market, TP, Saint Gobain, Edenred, Stellantis and Hermes International climbed 2.3 to 3.2%. Accor, Capgemini, STMicroElectronics, Publicis Groupe and L'Oreal also ended notably higher.

Orange, Societe Generale, TotalEnergies, Legrand, LVMH, Unibail Rodamco and Engie lost 1 to 2%.

Data from Destatis showed Germany's factory orders grew more than expected in October on robust domestic demand, rising by 1.5%. Although the pace of growth softened from the revised 2% rise posted in September, it was much faster than economists' forecast of 0.3%.

On a yearly basis, factory orders dropped 0.7%, following a 3.4% decrease in September.

The monthly growth was driven by the 9.9% expansion in domestic orders. Foreign orders decreased 4% due to the 6.5% drop in orders from outside the euro area. Demand from the Eurozone was up 0.1%.

Revised data from Eurostat showed the euro area economy logged a faster-than-estimated growth in the third quarter, underpinned by government spending and investment.

Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially compared to a marginal growth of 0.1% in second quarter. The third quarter growth was revised up from 0.2%.

On a yearly basis, GDP growth was confirmed at 1.4%, which was slower than the prior quarter's 1.6% expansion.

Industrial production in France increased 0.2% month-on-month in October, easing from a downwardly revised a 0.7% gain in September but defying market expectations of a 0.3% fall, data from INSEE showed.

Meanwhile, France's trade deficit narrowed sharply to €3.9 billion in October 2025 from €6.4 billion in September, well below expectations of €6.8 billion and marking the smallest gap since December 2024. Exports slipped 0.5% month-on-month to €51.7 billion, while imports declined at a faster 4.6% to a four-year low of €55.6 billion.

In economic news, UK house prices stagnated in November ahead of the Autumn budget announcement, data from the mortgage lender Halifax revealed.

House prices registered a nil growth in November after a 0.5% rise in October. Prices were forecast to climb 0.2%. Nonetheless, average property prices hit another new record high of GBP 299,892.

Annual growth in house prices eased to 0.7% in November, the weakest since March 2024, from 1.9% in October.