European Stocks Turning In Mixed Performance In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - European stocks are turning in a mixed performance on Friday, with investors largely making cautious moves following recent record highs. In addition to digesting the latest batch of regional economic data, markets are also reacting to some corporate news.

After the Federal Reserve held its rates on Wednesday and signaled three rate cuts this year, the Bank of England signaled the British economy's trajectory towards potential rate reductions the following day, and the Swiss National Bank announced a surprise rate cut, significantly lifting investor sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 is down marginally. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 is up 0.7%, Germany's DAX is up 0.06% and France's CAC 40 is down 0.25%. Switzerland's SMI is down 0.25%.

In the UK market, Phoenix Group Holdings is soaring nearly 10% after the company reported a pretax profit for 2023. The company said cash generation in 2023 was 2.024 billion pound, up from 1.504 billion pound a year earlier.

Reckitt Benckiser is gaining about 3%. Natwest Group, Lloyds Banking, Prudential, WPP, Vodafone, Scottish Mortgage, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Unilever, Legal & General and Anglo American Plc are up 1.3 to 2%.

In the German market, Siemens Energy, Sartorius, Deutsche Post, Vonovia and Zalando are gaining 2 to 3%. Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, RWE and MTU Aero Engines are up 1 to 1.5%.

Infineon, Puma, BMW, Munich RE and Continental are down 0.7 to 1.6%.

In the French market, Teleperformance is climbing more than 2%. Carrefour, BNP Paribas, WorldLine, Sanofi, Edenred, Societe Generale, Thales, Orange and Veolia are gaining 1 to 1.8%.

Air Liquide, Kering, Hermes International, LVMH and STMicroElectronics are down sharply.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK retail sales remained unchanged in February after rebounding by a revised 3.6% in January. Sales were forecast to fall 0.4%.

Excluding auto fuel, retail sales volume posted a slower monthly growth of 0.2% in February after climbing 3.4% in January.

On a yearly basis, overall retail sales fell 0.4%, in contrast to the 0.5% increase, the data showed. Sales were forecast to drop 0.7%.

UK consumer confidence stagnated in March but households turned positive about their future personal financial situation for the first time since 2021, survey results from the market research group GfK showed.

The consumer sentiment index held steady at -21 in March. The score was forecast to improve to -19.

Data released by Destatis showed Germany's import prices dropped 5.9% year-over-year in January, slower than the 7% decline in December. Prices have been falling since March 2023.

This is the first result after the conversion of import and export prices to the new base year 2021, Destatis said.

German business confidence improved in March, reports said citing survey results from the ifo Institute. The business sentiment index rose more-than-expected to 87.8 in March. The score was forecast to climb to 86.0 from February's initially estimated value of 85.5.