European Stocks Close Higher As Markets React To Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday despite struggling a bit early on in the session, as investors digested a slew of regional economic data and continued to bet on more monetary easing by central banks in the first quarter of 2025.

Fears of tariff hikes by the upcoming Trump administration, and data showing an increase in eurozone consumer price inflation limited markets' upside.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.32%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.62% and 0.59%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.05%, while Switzerland's SMI closed stronger by 1.19%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden closed higher.

Austria, Denmark, Portugal, Russia and Turkiye ended weak, while Iceland and Spain closed flat.

In the UK market, Next gained 3.75% after the company reported strong Christmas sales and raised its profit guidance for 2025. JD Sports Fashion and IAG gained 3.6% and 2.7%, respectively. BP climbed nearly 2%.

Halma, Shell, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Pearson, Auto Trader Group, Unilever, Coca-Cola HBC and Centrica gained 1 to 1.6%.

Taylor Wimpey, WPP and Persimmon ended lower by 4 to 4.5%. Natwest Group closed down 3.5% and Barclays drifted down 2.6%.

Schrodders, Pershing Square Holdings, Experian, Howden Joinery, Sainsbury (J), Standard Chartered, Barratt Redrow, BT Group and Glencore also declined sharply.

In the German market, Daimler Truck Holding, Sartorius, Beiersdorf and Porsche gained 2.5 to 4.3%. Adidas, Munich RE, Rheinmetall, Hannover Rueck, Merck, Infineon, SAP and Qiagen climbed 1.4 to 1.8%. Deutsche Boerse, Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank also closed notably higher.

Puma closed nearly 2.5% down. Siemens Energy, Zalando, Continental, Vonovia and BMW lost 1 to 2%.

In the French market, STMicroElectronics, LVMH, Danone, Hermes International and Sanofi closed up 1.4 to 2%. Kering, Vinci, Eurofins Scientific, Thales, Stellantis, Schneider Electric, Safran and Unibail Rodamco gained 1 to 1.2%.

Edenred closed down nearly 2.5%. Vivendi, Teleperformance, Societe Generale, Saint-Gobain, ArcelorMittal, Airbus Group and Publicis Groupe lost 0.5 to 1.6%. S&P Global's data shows the HCOB Germany Construction PMI fell to 37.8 in December, the lowest in eight months, compared to 38.0 in November.

On the economic front, Eurozone inflation rose to the highest level in five months in December largely reflecting higher services cost, preliminary data from Eurostat showed.

The harmonized index of consumer prices climbed 2.4% from a year ago, following a 2.2% gain in November. The pace of growth matched economists' expectations.

The euro area unemployment rate remained unchanged in November, Eurostat reported. The jobless rate stood at seasonally adjusted 6.3% in November, the same as in October. But this was down from 6.5% in November 2023.

Germany's construction sector remained deep in the recession zone in December as political uncertainties damped orders, survey data from S&P Global showed on Tuesday. The HCOB construction Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 37.8 in December from 38.0 in November.

France's consumer price inflation remained stable at the end of the year, a provisional estimate from the statistical office INSEE showed. Consumer price inflation came in at 1.3% in December, the same as in November. The rate was forecast to climb to 1.5%.

Meanwhile, harmonized inflation edged up to 1.8% in December from 1.7% a month ago. However, inflation remained below the European Central Bank's target of 2%.

A report from mortgage lender Halifax said UK house prices dropped for the first time in nine months as the market lost some momentum towards the end of the year but house prices are expected to rise moderately this year.

House prices registered an unexpected monthly drop of 0.2% in December, in contrast to the 1.2% increase in November. This was the first decrease since March.

S&P Global's report said that the construction PMI in the UK decreased to 53.3 points in December from 55.2 points in November.

According to a report from the British Retail Consortium, retail sales in the U.K. increased by 3.1% in December, after a 3.4% drop in November.