European Stocks Close Higher Again As Slowing Eurozone Inflation Lifts Sentiment

(RTTNews) - European stocks extended recent gains and closed on a firm note on Friday, and some major indices climbed to multi-week highs, as easing concerns about global banking crisis, and data showing a drop in eurozone consumer prices helped underpin sentiment.

Data showing an unexpected slowdown in the annual rate of core consumer price growth in the U.S. has raised hopes the Fed will hold off on raising interest rates at its next meeting in early May.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.66%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.15%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.69% and France's CAC 40 surged 0.81%, while Switzerland's SMI ended 0.67% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended higher.

Austria, Poland, Russia and Turkiye closed weak.

In the UK market, M&G climbed nearly 4% and Pearson surged 3.5%. Beazley, DCC, Unite Group, IHG, Auto Trader Group, Burberry Group, Smith & Nephew, Rentokil Initial, IAG, Ocado Group, JD Sports Fashion, BT Group and Admiral Group gained 1 to 2.2%.

Imperial Brands drifted down 2.3%. Melrose Industries, Airtel Africa, Barratt Developments, Legal & General, Prudential, HSBC Holdings and Persimmon lost 1 to 1.4%.

In Paris, WorldLine, LVMH, Carrefour, Dassault Systemes, L'Oreal, Essilor, Danone, BNP Paribas, Hermes International, Orange and Pernod Ricard surged 1 to 2.3%.

Eurofins Scientific, Publicis Groupe, Teleperformance and AXA ended weak.

In the German market, Adidas rallied more than 5%. Zalando climbed 2.2%, while Puma, Fresenius, Symrise, Bayer, Henkel, Beiersdorf, Hannover Rueck, Deutsche Post, Siemens Healthineers, Deutsche Telekom, HeidelbergCement and BASF gained 1 to 2%.

Sartorius drifted down 5.5%. Infineon Technologies and Commerzbank posted modest losses.

Flash estimate published by Eurostat showed Eurozone consumer prices advanced 6.9% on a yearly basis in March, slower than the 8.5% rise in February. Prices were expected to climb 7.1%. This was the weakest inflation rate since February 2022 when prices rose 5.9%.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, rose slightly to 5.7% in March, as expected, from 5.6% in the previous month.

A separate report from Eurostat showed the jobless rate in Eurozone came in at seasonally adjusted 6.6% in February, the same as in January. In the same period last year, the rate was 6.8%. Economists had forecast the unemployment to remain unchanged at 6.7% in February.

Germany's import price inflation eased to a two-year low in February, rising 2.8% annually, due to a fall in energy prices for the first time since early 2021, data released by Destatis showed on Friday. Import prices rose 6.6% in January.

France's consumer price index climbed 5.6% year-over-year in March, slower than the 6.3% rise in February, preliminary data from the statistical office Insee showed.

France's producer price inflation eased further in February, dropping to 15.7% in the month, from 17.6% in January, data from the statistical office Insee showed.

Germany's unemployment rate rose to 5.6% in March, a report from the Federal Employment Agency showed. The rate was forecast to remain unchanged at 5.5%.

Meanwhile, UK house prices declined at the fastest pace since mid-2009 amid rising interest rates and high inflation dampening housing affordability, the Nationwide Building Society reported Friday. The annual fall in house prices deepened to 3.1% in March from 1.1% in February. This was the biggest annual decline since July 2009. Prices were forecast to drop 2.2%.