European Stocks Close Higher After Choppy Session

European stocks closed higher on Friday with investors digesting eurozone inflation data, and a report on U.S. personal income & spending, and looking ahead to the European Central Bank’s monetary policy announcement next week.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.32%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended higher by 0.54%, France’s CAC 40 ended up 0.18% and Germany’s DAX edged up 0.01%, while Switzerland’s SMI surged 1.1%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden ended on firm note. Finland edged up marginally.

Greece, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed weak.

In the UK market, National Grid Plc (new) shares soared nearly 27%. National Grid (ord) jumped 4.7%.

SSE, Severn Trent, GSK, Reckitt Benckiser, IHG, Centrica, Smith (DS), Whitbread, BT Group, BAE Systems, AstraZeneca, United Utilities, Beazley, Pearson, Rentokil Initial, Vodafone Group, British American Tobacco and Diageo gained 1 to 2.3%.

JD Sports Fashion dropped 4.7% after reporting lower-than-expected full-year profits. Associated British Foods ended down 4.1%. Ocado Group delined more than 2.5%.

Burberry Group, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Bunzl, Airtel Africa, RightMove, Fresnillo, ICG, RS Group, M&G International, and Croda International lost 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Vonovia, Rheninmetall, Deutsche Boerse, Hannover Rueck, Deutsche Telekom, Merck, Allianz and Porsche gained 1 to 2.1%.

Siemens Energy lost nearly 5%. SAP, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, MTU Aero Engines and HeidelbergCement ended lower by 1 to 2%.

In the French market, TotalEnergies and Edenred both gained about 2.5%. L’Oreal, Teleperformance, Thales, Unibail Rodamco, Sanofi, Engie, ArcelorMittal and Vivendi advanced 1 to 2%.

Capgemini tumbled 4.4%. Legrand lost about 2.6% and Airbus Group ended 2% down.

STMicroElectronics declined as it announced a plan to build a new manufacturing facility in Catania, Italy for the mass production of 200mm silicon carbide or SiC wafers.

Renault closed weak after it announced a joint venture with Chinese partner Geely for hybrid combustion engines. Dassault Systemes, Stellantis and Accor also ended lower.

On the economic front, Eurozone headline and core inflation accelerated in May largely driven by higher services costs ahead of the European Central Bank’s governing council meeting next week, when it is widely expected to cut interest rates.

The harmonized index of consumer prices posted a faster-than-expected increase of 2.6%, following the 2.4% rise in April, flash data from Eurostat showed.

France’s consumer price inflation rose in May. The consumer price index climbed 2.2% year-over-year in May, the same rate of increase as in the previous month, data from INSEE showed. Meanwhile, economists had forecast inflation to rise to 2.4%.

France’s economy expanded as estimated in the first quarter, growing 0.2% from the fourth quarter of the previous year, data from INSEE showed. The fourth quarter growth was revised up to 0.3% from 0.1%.

France’s payroll employment increased more than initially estimated in the first quarter, rising 0.3% sequentially, final data from the statistical office INSEE showed on Friday.

On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales in Germany slumped 1.2% from March, when they grew an upwardly revised 2.6%, preliminary data from the statistical office Destatis showed. Economists had forecast a 0.2% fall.
On a year-on-year basis, retail sales fell 0.6%.

Germany’s import prices dropped 1.7% year-over-year in April, though slower than the 3.6% decline in March, data from Destatis showed. The expected decrease was 1.8%.

UK mortgage approvals decreased marginally in April and households made record deposits in individual accounts or ISAs to take advantage of higher interest rates, data released by the Bank of England showed. The number of mortgage approvals dropped slightly to 61,100 from 61,300 in March. Approvals were forecast to rise to 61,500.