{"id":63873,"date":"2025-09-05T18:03:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T18:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/09\/05\/major-european-markets-close-weak-7\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T18:03:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T18:03:54","slug":"major-european-markets-close-weak-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/09\/05\/major-european-markets-close-weak-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Major European Markets Close Weak"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The major European markets<\/span> ended weak on Friday with investors assessing the economic situation in the U.S. in the wake of a report showing a weaker than expected labor market. <\/p>\n

Investors also digested a slew of regional economic data, and some corporate news. The mood in the markets was largely cautious.<\/p>\n

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.16%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged down 0.09%, Germany’s DAX closed 0.73% down, and France’s CAC 40 drifted down 0.31%, while Switzerland’s SMI edged down 0.1%.<\/p>\n

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Russia and Sweden ended higher.<\/p>\n

Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed weak. <\/p>\n

In the UK market, Admiral Group, BP, Barclays, Natwest Group and Shell lost 2 to 3%. Lloyds Banking Group, Pearson and St. James’s Place also ended notably lower.<\/p>\n

Entain rallied about 3.4%. Berkeley Group Holdings surged 3% after reporting “stable” trading over the first four months of its financial year and maintaining its earnings guidance.<\/p>\n

Tullow Oil, which soared more than 12% after naming oil and gas industry veteran Ian Perks as its new CEO, pared some gains subsequently, but still settled 4.5% up.<\/p>\n

Ashtead Group, Persimmon, Melrose Industries, Sainsbury (J), Segro, Taylor Wimpey, Babcock International and Barratt Redrow gained 2 to 3%.<\/p>\n

In the German market, SAP, MTU Aero Engines, Covestro, Siemens, Siemens Energy, Puma, Beiersdorf, Bayer, Munich RE and Deutsche Bank lost 1.2 to 2.1%.<\/p>\n

Sartorius and Vonovia gained about 2.6% and 2.5%, respectively. E.ON gained 1.7% after it signed an agreement to sell its Czech subsidiary Gas Distribution s.r.o. to GasNet.<\/p>\n

Adidas, Symrise, RWE, Zalando, Merck, Infineon Technologies, Volkswagen and Rheinmetall gained 0.7 to 1.5%.<\/p>\n

In the French market, Societe Generale, TotalEnergies, Airbus Group, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole lost 1.2 to 2%.<\/p>\n

STMicroElectronics gained about 3.7% and Capgemini climbed nearly 2.5%. Kering, ArcelorMittal, Eurofins Scientific and Unibail Rodamco gained 1.5 to 2%.<\/p>\n

In economic news, data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK retail sales logged a faster growth in July on good weather and the women’s Euro football tournament.<\/p>\n

Retail sales posted a monthly expansion of 0.6% in July, following an increase of 0.3% in June. Sales growth was expected to remain at 0.3%.<\/p>\n

Non-store retailers and clothing stores sales increased strongly in July, which retailers attributed to new products, good weather, and an increase resulting from the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 tournament.<\/p>\n

However, in the three months to July, sales volumes fell 0.6% compared with the same period last year.<\/p>\n

Year-on-year, retail sales grew 1.1% in July following a 0.9% rise in June. Excluding auto fuel, retail sales growth held steady at 1.3%.<\/p>\n

U.K. house prices rose for the third consecutive month on the back of falling mortgage rates and continued wage growth, according to the Halifax house price index data. The value of a typical home rose 0.3% in August when compared to July.<\/p>\n

Germany’s factory orders declined for the third straight month in July, figures from Destatis revealed.<\/p>\n

New orders fell 2.9% month-on-month in July, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.5%. The fall was also sharper than the 0.2% decrease posted in June. Further, this was the fastest decline since January, when prices dropped 5.4%.<\/p>\n

On a yearly basis, the decline in factory orders was 3.4% versus a 1.7% rise in the previous month. <\/p>\n

France’s trade deficit decreased in July from a month ago as exports rose amid a fall in imports, data released by the customs office showed.<\/p>\n

The trade deficit dropped to EUR 5.6 billion in July from EUR 7.2 billion in June. The expected shortfall was EUR 6.1 billion.<\/p>\n

In the corresponding month last year, the trade deficit was EUR 6.2 billion.<\/p>\n

Exports posted a monthly increase of 2.6%, while imports were 0.5% lower. On an annual basis, both exports and imports increased by 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.<\/p>\n

Data from the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment in the U.S. crept up by just 22,000 jobs in August after climbing by an upwardly revised 79,000 jobs in July.<\/p>\n

Economists had expected employment to increase by 75,000 jobs compared to the addition of 73,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n

The report also showed the uptick of 14,000 jobs that had been reported for June was downwardly revised to a decrease of 13,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate inched up by 4.3% in August from 4.2% in July, in line with economist estimates. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n