European Shares Extend Gains As Growth, Rate Hike Worries Ease

(RTTNews) - European stocks rose on Friday to hover near a nine-month high, as investors cheered signs of slowing U.S. inflation and better-than-expected trade data from China.

Closer home, the German economy likely stagnated in the fourth quarter of last year with GDP rising 1.9 percent over the full-year 2022, official data showed.

Separate data showed the British economy unexpectedly grew in November.

GDP grew 0.1 percent in the month as food and drink businesses benefited from the FIFA World Cup.

The pan-European STOXX 600 climbed 0.6 percent to 452.72, after having risen 0.6 percent to its highest level since April 2022 on Thursday.

The German DAX inched up 0.2 percent, while France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were up around 0.6 percent each.

Swiss building materials firm Holcim Group was little changed after saying its Swiss team GO CIRCULAR is ready to set sail in The Ocean Race for its first round-the-world regatta.

Healthcare stocks traded higher, with Roche Holding and Novo Nordisk gaining 1-2 percent.

Italy's Enel rose about 1 percent. The CEO of the Italian power utility was quoted as saying that the company could secure up to 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion) of EU investment funding.

Online gambling company Kindred Group plunged 17 percent after a profit warning. Miners extended recent gains, with Antofagasta and Glencore rising about 2 percent each on optimism around China's reopening.

U.K. banks Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings rallied 1-2 percent. Rational AG, a German manufacturer and retailer of combi steamers and ovens, jumped 2.6 percent. The company reported that its preliminary sales revenues for fiscal 2022 increased 31 percent year-on-year.

United Internet rallied 3.5 percent. Reuters reported that the company's web hosting subsidiary Ionos wants to begin the process for an initial public offering (IPO) this month.