{"id":64425,"date":"2025-09-19T17:24:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T17:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/09\/19\/major-european-markets-close-slightly-weak-5\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T17:24:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T17:24:34","slug":"major-european-markets-close-slightly-weak-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/09\/19\/major-european-markets-close-slightly-weak-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Major European Markets Close Slightly Weak"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

\n<\/p>\n

\n

The major European markets<\/span> closed slightly down on Friday as investors assessed recent moves of the central banks and weighed the potential impact of tariffs. A bit of profit taking also contributed to the market’s weak close.<\/p>\n

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.16% down. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 closed 0.12% down, and Germany’s DAX ended lower by 0.15%, while France’s CAC 40 edged down by 0.01%. Bucking the trend, Switzerland’s SMI gained 0.5%.<\/p>\n

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended weak.<\/p>\n

Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.<\/p>\n

In the UK market, WPP closed down by 5.2%. JD Sports Fashion ended 3.85% down. Natwest Group, Ashtead Group, Airtel Africa, Lloyds Banking Group, Informa, Convatec Group, Relx, Marks & Spencer, ICG and BT Group also declined sharply.<\/p>\n

Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining climbed up 5.2% and 5.05%, respectively. Next, Coca-Cola HBC, Glencore, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Antofagasta, GSK, M&G, Lands Securities, Sainsbury (J), EasyJet and Pershing Square Holdings gained 1 to 2.5%.<\/p>\n

In the German market, Sartorius, Deutsche Bank, Brenntag, Merck, Rheinmetall, RWE and E.ON posted sharp to moderate gains.<\/p>\n

Puma closed down 4.4%. Zalando, Covestro and Symrise ended lower by 3.1 to 3.7%. Infineon, Deutsche Boerse, Beirsdorf, Continental, Deutsche Post and Adidas ended down by 1 to 2%.<\/p>\n

In the French market, Publicis Groupe closed more than 3% down. STMicroElectronics, L’Oreal, Thales and Capgemini ended lower by about 2.3%. Dassault Systemes, LVMH, Edenred and TotalEnergies also closed weak.<\/p>\n

Safran, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, ArcelorMittal, Airbus, AXA, Teleperformance and Stellantis closed with strong gains.<\/p>\n

On the economic front, French manufacturing confidence deteriorated in September as views on past production and general production outlook weakened, survey results from the statistical office INSEE showed.<\/p>\n

The manufacturing sentiment index slid to 96 in September, in line with expectations, from 97 in August.<\/p>\n

Germany’s producer prices declined for the sixth straight month in August on falling energy prices, according to a report from Destatis.<\/p>\n

Producer prices registered an annual fall of 2.2% after declining 1.5% in July. Prices have been falling since March. The decline was also sharper than the expected 1.8% fall.<\/p>\n

Month-on-month, the decline in producer prices deepened to 0.5% from 0.1% in July. <\/p>\n

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK retail sales increased for the third straight month in August, rising by 0.5%, from a month ago. This followed a similar revised 0.5% increase seen in July and outpaced economists’ forecast of 0.4% gain. <\/p>\n

Excluding auto fuel, growth in retail sales doubled to 0.8% from 0.4% in July and came in stronger than the forecast of 0.6%.<\/p>\n

On a yearly basis, retail sales logged a growth of 0.7% in August, after rising 0.8% in the previous month. Excluding auto fuel, retail sales growth accelerated to 1.2% from 1% in July. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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