European Markets Close Higher As Stocks Rise On Late Buying

(RTTNews) - European markets ended mostly higher on Friday with stocks gaining in strength in afternoon trades with investors digesting corporate earnings and continuing to assess the likely interest-rate path of major central bankers.

The rise in bond yields and concerns about economic slowdown limited markets' upside.

The euro strengthened and regional bond yields edged higher after Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said the European Central Bank must resist any temptation to cut interest rates early.

Nagel also said he was "skeptical" about the risk of a 'hard landing' for the euro zone economy caused by the monetary policy squeeze.

Elsewhere, Bank of England's chief economist Huw Pill told the Financial Times that it was too early to declare victory in the battle against high inflation.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended up 0.33%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.06%, Germany's DAX gained 0.22%, and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.2%. Switzerland's SMI climbed 0.26%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Turikye closed higher.

Austria, Finland, Poland and Sweden edged up marginally, while Greece and Russia ended weak.

In the UK market, Kingfisher, Tesco, Hargreaves Lansdown, Vodafone and 3i gained 1 to 2%. Barclays Group gained more than 1% after reports that the lender is mulling cutting around 2,000 jobs as part of plans to cut costs by as much as £1 billion ($1.3 billion) over several years.

Intertek, SSE, United Utilities and Barratt Developments ended higher by 0.7 t0 1%.

The Sage Group ended more than 2% down. Flutter Entertainment, Johnson Matthey, Scottish Mortgage, Burberry Group, British Land Company and Compass ended lower by 1 to 1.2%.

In the German market, Porsche, Continental and BASF gained 2 to 2.4%. Covestro, Deutsche Post, Fresenius Medical Care, E.On, Fresenius Medical Care and Daimler Truck Holding ended higher by 1 to 1.7%.

SAP, Adidas, Puma, Bayer and Deutsche Boerse lost 0.6 to 1.1%.

In Paris, Renault gained 1.6% and Eurofins Scientific climbed 1.4%, while AXA and Schneider Electric both gained about 1%.

Pernod Ricard dropped about 2%. LVMH, Unibail Rodamco and Dassault Systemes lost 0.6 to 0.8%.

On the economic front, Germany's economy contracted slightly, as initially estimated, in the third quarter with the household consumption that used to be the pillar of growth, acting as a drag. Confirming the initial figures, detailed data from the statistical office Destatis showed on Friday that gross domestic product shrank 0.1% quarterly.

Household spending dropped 0.3% after a 0.2% rebound in the preceding period. Meanwhile, government spending grew for the first time in more than a year, up 0.2%.

Survey results from the Munich-based ifo Institute showed business confidence in Germany improved for the third month in a row in November signaling that the largest euro area economy is stabilizing at a low level. The business climate index rose to 87.3 in November from 86.9 in October. The reading was seen at 87.5.