European Stocks Close On Buoyant Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Friday, with the major markets in the region posting strong gains, amid easing concerns about U.S-China trade relations, and on upbeat U.S. non-farm payroll data.

Trade tensions eased a bit after China said it has kept the doors open for discussions with the United States. At the same time, Beijing has also noted that the U.S. needs to show "sincerity" in negotiations and should be prepared to cancel its unilateral tariffs.

Investors also digested a slew of regional economic data and corporate earnings updates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.67%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.17%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 2.62% and 2.33%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI settled 1.13% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye ended with sharp to moderate gains.

Portugal and Russia closed on a weak note.

In the UK market, IAG and Melrose Industries climbed 5% and 4.9%, respectively. Babcock International, Rentokil Initial, Spirax Group, Entain, Reckitt Benckiser, Bunzl, HSBC Holdings, The Sage Group, Haleon, Scottish Mortgage, Halma, Endeavour Mining and Rolls-Royce Holdings gained 2 to 4%.

Natwest Group gained about 1.3%. The banking and insurance holding company reported a sequential rise in its first-quarter earnings, helped by improved total income and a decline in operating expenses. The earnings were also underpinned by continued growth across the company's businesses.

Lloyds Banking Group shares closed lower by about 1.1%. Standard Chartered Plc settled flat. The bank reported that its profit before taxation was $1.10 billion in the first-quarter, up from last year's $1.91 billion.

Shell gained about 2%. The oil and gas major announced a share buyback programme of $3.5 billion, despite reporting weak first-quarter results.

Sainsbury (J), United Utilities, Whitbread, Severn Trent, Kingfisher and Vodafone Group lost 1 to 1.7%.

In the German market, Siemens Energy surged 7.5%. Rheinmetall, MTU Aero Engines, SAP, Infineon, Siemens, Bayer, Sartorius, Heidelberg Materials, Adidas, Continental, Deutsche Bank, Zaland, Merck and Puma gained 2 to 6%.

Munich RE and RWE closed lower by about 3.7% and 3%, respectively.

BASF Group ended down by a little over 0.5%. The chemical company reported that its net income attributable to shareholders for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 dropped to 808 million euros or 0.91 euros per share from 1.368 billion euros or 1.53 euros per share last year. BASF has also warned that it needs more time to assess the impact of U.S. tariffs.

In the French market, Schneider Electric climbed about 5.7% and Airbus gained 5.3%. Airbus reported on Wednesday that it posted a net income of 793 million euros or 1.01 euro per share in the first-quarter, up from 595 million euros or 0.76 euro per share last year.

STMicroElectronics, ArcelorMittal, Safran, Accor, Kering, Saint-Gobain, Thales, BNP Paribas, Stellantis, Air Liquide, Hermes International, Legrand, Vinci, Publicis Groupe, Unibail Rodamco, Eurofins Scientific, Capgemini and Societe Generale closed up 1.8 to 4.7%.

Teleperformance ended down more than 7% and Edenred drifted down by about 1.4%.

Data from S&P Global showed that the HCOB Germany Manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 48.4 in April 2025, from a preliminary reading of 48 and March's 48.3. The latest reading was the highest recorded for more than two-and-a-half years.

Data from S&P Global said the HCOB France Manufacturing PMI rose to 48.7 in April 2025 from 48.5 in March, revised up from an initial estimate of 48.2. While still signaling contraction, it marked the mildest since the downturn began in February 2023.

New passenger car registrations in France fell 14.5% year-on-year to 153,842 units in March 2025, marking the third consecutive monthly decline.

Official data showed France's government budget deficit narrowed to EUR 47 billion in March 2025 from EUR 52.8 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Total revenues rose 6.9% year-on-year to EUR 77.6 billion, while expenditures were unchanged at EUR 112.8 billion.

Flash data from Eurostat said Eurozone annual inflation remained stable in April. The harmonized index of consumer prices grew 2.2% on a yearly basis in April, the same pace of increase as seen in March. Prices were expected to climb at a slower pace of 2.1%.

Core inflation that excludes prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco increased more-than-expected to 2.7% from 2.4% in the previous month. Economists had forecast a rise of 2.5%.

On a monthly basis, the HICP moved up 0.6%, data showed.