European Stocks Close Broadly Higher

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly higher on Friday despite political uncertainty in France, as data showing stronger than expected growth in U.S. non-farm payroll employment aided sentiment.

Although the strong jobs data has dimmed the prospects of aggressive rate cuts by the U.S. central bank, the modest uptick in unemployment in the world's largest economy has raised hopes that the Fed will lower interest rates by another 25 basis points later this month.

Optimism about the French government passing a new budget within a matter of weeks helped underpin sentiment. French President Emmanuel Macron said he will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days and will get the 2025 budget adopted by parliament.

The European Central Bank (ECB) meets next Thursday for the last time in 2024 and economists overwhelmingly expect another 25-basis-point rate cut - which would be the fourth such move this year.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.18%. Germany's DAX edged up 0.13% and France's CAC 40 closed higher by 1.31%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down 0.49% and Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.09%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain ended weak, while Greece and Poland closed flat.

In the UK market, B&M European Value Retail gained about 2.7%. JD Sports Fashion climbed 2.2%. Rentokil Initial, ICG, RightMove, Convatec Group, Schrodders, Croda International, Barratt Redrow, Halma and IMI advanced 1 to 2%.

Frasers Group lost 4%. United Utilities and Severn Trent both declined sharply following a rating downgrade.

Spirax Group, Endeavour Mining, Next and Tesco lost 2 to 3%. DCC, National Grid, Pershing Square Holdings, Melrose Industries, Marks & Spencer, BAE Systems, Reckitt Benckiser, Hiscox, Associated British Foods, Fresnillo and Compas Group closed lower by 1 to 1.7%.

In the German market, Bayer, BMW, Henkel, Zalando, Puma, Beiersdorf, Volkswagen, Vonovia, Adidas, E.ON, Infineon, Continental, Mercede-Benz, Brenntag and BASF closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Siemens Energy, Rheinmetall, HeidelbergCement, Munich RE, Fresenius, Allianz, Commerzbank, MTU Aero Engines, Deutsche Bank and Siemens Healthineers closed lower by 0.6 to 1.7%.

In the French market, Kering surged more than 6%. LVMH rallied nearly 3.5%. Hermes International gained nearly 3.5%. Stellantis, Renault, Publicis Groupe, L'Oreal, Dassault Systemes, Edenred and Saint Gobain advanced 2 to 3.1%.

Vivendi, Capgemini, Eurofins Scientific, Michelin, Societe Generale, Schneider Electric, Airbus Group, Pernod Ricard, AXA and BNP Paribas gained 1 to 2%.

In economic news, the euro area economy expanded as initially estimated in the third quarter on household and government spending and investment, revised data published by Eurostat showed. Gross domestic product climbed 0.4% sequentially, which was double the 0.2% growth posted in the second quarter. The rates matched the preliminary estimate.

Germany's industrial output decreased unexpectedly in October on weak energy and auto production, data from Destatis showed,

Industrial output registered a 1% decrease in October, the data showed. The decline confounded expectations for an increase of 1%. On a yearly basis, industrial production slid 4.5% after a 4.3% fall.

France's foreign trade deficit decreased in October as exports grew amid a fall in imports. The trade deficit dropped to EUR 7.67 billion in October from EUR 8.42 billion in the previous month. The expected shortfall was EUR 8.0 billion. Exports posted a monthly increase of 0.9% in October, while imports showed a decline of 0.5%.

Elsewhere, Halifax reported that Britain's property sector gathered more pace in November, with house prices rising by a faster-than-expected 1.3 percent in November from October, the biggest increase this year.

On an annual basis property prices were up 4.8%, the highest rate of increase since November 2022.