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European stocks closed higher on Friday with investors expecting a larger interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week after former New York Fed President Bill Dudley’s comments that that there was a strong case for a 50 basis point reduction.<\/p>\n
Investors also digested the latest batch of economic data from the region, and looked ahead to the Bank of England’s policy announcement next week.<\/p>\n
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.76%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.39%, Germany’s DAX jumped 0.98% and France’s CAC 40 ended 0.41% up, while Switzerland’s SMI closed up 0.46%.<\/p>\n
Among other markets<\/span> in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye all ended on a firm note, while Iceland ended flat.<\/p>\n In the UK market, Endeavour Mining soared nearly 11%. Fresnillo climbed about 5.7%. Entain, JD Sports Fashion, Airtel Africa, Smith (DS), Convatec Group, Anglo American Plc, ICG and Schrodders gained 2 to 3%.<\/p>\n Frasers Group advanced nearly 2%, while IAG, Intertek Group, Rentokil Initial, Kingfisher and Antofagasta gained 1.5 to 1.8%.<\/p>\n Unilever moved up after launching the second and final phase of its substantial \u20ac1.5 billion share buyback program.<\/p>\n Sainsbury (J) ended down 2%. Diageo and Tesco lost about 1.4%% and 1.2%, respectively. AstraZeneca ended down 1% after a rating downgrade from Deutsche Bank.<\/p>\n In the German market, Zalando zoomed more than 10%. Siemens Energy surged 9.5%.<\/p>\n Commerzbank gained 4.2%. The head of Germany’s central bank said that authorities would take a “very close look” at UniCredit’s overtures to potentially buy the German bank. <\/p>\n Fresenius Medical Care, Continental, BMW, Volkswagen, Deutsche Bank, Fresenius, BASF, Daimler Truck Holding, Porsche, Infineon, Mercedes-Benz and Vonovia gained 1.5 to 4%.<\/p>\n In the French market, Teleperformance rallied about 3.5%. Renault, STMicroElectronics, ArcelorMittal, Michelin, Vinci, Unibail Rodamco, AXA, Publicis Groupe, Bouygues, Vivendi, Dassault Systemes, Thales and Saint-Gobain ended higher by 1 to 2.3%.<\/p>\n Worldline shares plummeted 14.4% after the payment group announced the departure of its CEO Gilles Grapinet and cut its 2024 revenue and core earnings guidance.<\/p>\n On the economic front, Eurozone industrial production declined in July but at a slower-than-expected pace due to the rebound in non-durable consumer goods output, data from Eurostat revealed. <\/p>\n Industrial production fell 0.3% on a monthly basis in July after remaining flat in June. Output was forecast to decrease 0.6%.<\/p>\n France’s inflation eased more than estimated in August and reached the lowest since July 2021, revised data from the statistical office INSEE showed.<\/p>\n Consumer prices posted an annual increase of 1.8% in August, following a 2.3% rise in July. The August rate was revised down from 1.9% and marked the weakest since July 2021.<\/p>\n At the same time, the EU harmonized inflation softened to 2.2% in August, in line with flash estimate, from 2.7% in the previous month. On the other hand, core inflation increased to 1.7% from 1.5% in July.<\/p>\n Monthly CPI inflation advanced to 0.6%, which was revised up from 0.5% and follows 0.2% in July. The HICP grew by an unrevised 0.6% after a 0.2 percent rise.<\/p>\n UK inflation expectations slowed slightly in August, the latest quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Bank of England revealed. The one-year ahead inflation expectations eased slightly to 2.7% from 2.8% in May.<\/p>\n However, in five years’ time, inflation is seen at 3.2%, up from 3.1% the prior survey period. Respondents assessed the current inflation at 5.2% compared to 5.5% in the previous survey period. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n