European Stocks Close Lower After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Friday with the mood turning cautious as investors assessed the latest batch of economic data from the U.S. and Europe, and reacted to a slew of earnings updates while awaiting clarity on the Trump administration's trade policies and tariff moves.

Data from the Labor Department non-farm payroll employment rose by 143,000 jobs in January compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 170,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dipped to 4% in January from 4.1% in December.

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed down 0.38%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.31%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 lost 0.53% and 0.43%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI settled lower by 0.24%.

The FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40, all posted modest gains in the week.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed weak.

Greece, Iceland, Poland and Turkiye ended higher, while Belgium closed flat.

In the UK market, Barratt Redrow ended down 4.4%. Mondi, Vistry Group, Taylor Wimpey, ICP, GSK, Howden Joinery, Persimmon, Berkeley Group Holdings, Land Securities, Smith & Nephew and Marks & Spencer lost 2 to 3.4%.

AstraZeneca, Segro, Halma, B&M European Value Retail, M&G, Next and Lloyds Banking Group also ended notably lower.

Legal & General gained about 1.2% after the life insurer agreed to sell its U.S. protection business to Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company for $2.3 billion.

Pershing Square Holdings, Coca-Cola, Vodafone, Antofagasta, BP, BAE Systems and Glencore gained 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Porsche closed down 7.3% after the carmaker warned that the cost of new models and battery-related expenses would dent its 2025 profits.

Porsche said that it expected a profit margin of just 10-12% this year, below analysts' expectations of 14.8% and well under the mid-term target of 17-19%.

Puma ended down 4.1%. Adidas, Qiagen, Volkswagen, BASF, BMW, Sartorius, Siemens Healthineers, Deutsche Post, RWE, Merck, Bayer, Mercedes-Benz, Vonovia, Infineon and SAP lost 1 to 2.5%.

HeidelbergCement, Fresenius, Henkel, E.ON and Rheinmetall gained 1.3 to 1.5%.

In the French market, Edenred, Pernod Ricard, Kering and L'Oreal lost 4 to 5%. Capgemini, Hermes International, LVMH, Schneider Electric, Stellantis closed lower by 1.2 to 2.2%.

Vivendi climbed nearly 4%. Societe Generale and Vinci gained about 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively. BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Orange, Renault, Thales and Safran closed higher by 0.7 to 1.6%.

In European economic news, UK house prices grew more than expected in January to hit a record high as buyer demand increased ahead of the stamp duty hike in April, mortgage lender Halifax said Friday.

House prices increased 0.7% in January from December, reversing a 0.2% drop in the previous month. The monthly growth was also faster than economists' forecast of 0.4%.

On a yearly basis, growth in house prices moderated to 3% from 3.4% in December. This was the slowest growth since last July. Average property prices hit a record GBP 299,138 in January.

data from the statistical office said France's trade gap narrowed to €3.9 billion in December 2024, down from a revised €6.3 billion in November. This marks the smallest trade deficit since November 2020, as exports rose 4% month-on-month to €52.3 billion. Meanwhile, imports fell 0.8% to €56.2 billion.

Data from Bank of France showed that France posted a current account surplus of €2.4 billion in December 2024, shifting from a downwardly revised € 1.2 billion deficit in the previous month. This marked the first current account surplus since July.

Data from Destatis showed German industrial production dropped 2.4% in December, the biggest decline in five months, due largely to a drop in output from the car industry. Economists had expcted the output to drop by 0.6%.