European stock markets closed with mixed results on Friday, largely reverting to recent closing points after early gains. This came as investors monitored a range of economic data from Europe and the United States and continued to evaluate the likelihood of central banks cutting interest rates.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up by 0.14%. The UK's FTSE 100 rose by 0.91%, but Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both dropped: by 0.13% and 0.16% respectively. The Swiss SMI index also fell, by 0.75%.
Stocks in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed up, while indexes in Finland, Greece, Iceland and Poland closed down. The Dutch market broke even.
In the UK, Fresnillo shares went up almost 8%, taking advantage of the bullion's ongoing price climb. Glencore, Anglo American Plc, SSE and Taylor Wimpey rose between 3 and 5%.
Shares in BP rose nearly 3% following reports that the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company had shown interest in the company. Shares in Antofagasta, Royal Dutch Shell, BAE Systems, Rio Tinto, National Grid, Natwest Group, United Utilities, BT, Centrica, Severn Trent, Entain, Persimmon, Scottish Mortgage, Barratt Developments and Coca-Cola all rose between 1 and 3%.
However, shares in Easyjet, Ocado Group, St. James's Place, The Sage Group, RightMove, JD Sports Fashion, RS Group, Burberry Group, Prudential, Marks & Spencer, Diploma, IHG and Informa fell between 1 and 4%.
In Germany, RWE shares rose almost 4% and shares in Rheinmetall, MTU Aero Engines, E.ON, Deutsche Bank and Merck rose between 0.8 and 2%. However, Puma shares fell about 4.6% and shares in Sartorius, Infineon, BMW, Adidas, Symrise, Siemens Healthineers, Porsche and BASF fell between 1 and 3%.
In France, shares in TotalEnergies, Thales and Engie rose between 1.5 and 2%. Societe Generale shares also rose after the company announced plans to sell its professional equipment financing business to BPCE for €1.1bn. Yet shares in Alstom, Dassault Sytemes, Essilor, Kering, WorldLine, Edenred, LVMH and Hermes International all fell significantly.
Economic data revealed that inflation expectations in the Eurozone remained consistent, but predictions for real economic growth in 2024 were slightly reduced, according to a survey from the European Central Bank.
In Germany, lower food and energy costs led consumer price inflation to fall to its lowest point in nearly three years. In France, consumer price inflation slowed to its lowest point in two-and-a-half years.
In the UK, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed minimal economic growth in February. Compared to the previous month, real gross domestic product rose by 0.1% in February, following a revised 0.3% increase in January. Year on year, GDP fell by 0.2% in February, a slightly better figure than the economist forecast of a 0.4% contraction.
