{"id":69367,"date":"2026-01-30T18:17:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T18:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2026\/01\/30\/major-european-markets-close-on-firm-note-5\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T18:17:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T18:17:57","slug":"major-european-markets-close-on-firm-note-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2026\/01\/30\/major-european-markets-close-on-firm-note-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Major European Markets Close On Firm Note"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The major European markets<\/span> closed on a firm note on Friday even as other markets in the region turned in a mixed performance, with investors digesting the latest batch of regional economic data and earnings news.<\/p>\n

Investors also kept an eye on some key events in the U.S., including data releases and President Donald Trump’s announcement nominating Kevin Warsh for the post of Fed Chair.<\/p>\n

Reports about U.S. lawmakers reaching a bipartisan funding deal to avoid a government shutdown aided sentiment to some extent.<\/p>\n

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed up by 0.64%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.51%, Germany’s DAX ended with a gain of 0.68% and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.68%. Switzerland’s SMI settled 0.31% up.<\/p>\n

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain settled on the positive side.<\/p>\n

Greece, Iceland, Poland, Russia and Sweden ended weak, while Czech Republic, Finland and Turkiye closed flat.<\/p>\n

In the UK market, gains in financials and consumer sectors offset losses in the mining sector. <\/p>\n

Lloyds Banking Group gained 3.3% as it launched a share buyback program to repurchase up to \u00a31.75 billion of its ordinary shares.<\/p>\n

Natwest Group, Barclays, Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings gained 1.2%-2%. <\/p>\n

Smiths & Nephew, Experian, Diageo, IAG and Haleon moved up 2%-2.35%. Kingfisher, Reckitt Benckiser, Sainsbury (J), Imperial Brands, GSK, Unilever, GSK, Scottish Mortgage, Pearson, British American Tobacco and Tesco also ended with strong gains.<\/p>\n

Endeavour Mining fell more than 6.5%. Fresnillo lost 5.1%, Antofagasta drifted down 3.65% and Anglo American Plc ended 2.6% down, while Glencore and Rio Tinto lost 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively.<\/p>\n

Airtel Africa closed 6.6% down. Metlen Energy & Metals ended lower by 3.3%. Mondi, Entain, 3i Group, Persimmon, Burberry Group, Rentokil Initial, Babcock International, Barratt Redrow and Weir Group lost 1%-2.7%.<\/p>\n

In the German market, SAP gained about 4.2%. Adidas moved up 3.7% after reporting record revenues in 2025 and announcing a 1-billion-euro ($1.2 billion) stock buyback.<\/p>\n

Deutsche Telekom, Brenntag, Deutsche Bank, Henkel, Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Boerse, Scout24, Beiersdorf and Fresenius gained 1%-2.6%.<\/p>\n

Vonovia, Rheinmetall, Volkswagen, Continental and Infineon closed weak.<\/p>\n

In the French market, Edenred, Sanofi, TP, Societe Generale, Capgemini, Eurofins Scientific, Stellantis, Pernod Ricard, Dassault Systemes, EssilorLuxottica, Accor, Engie, LVMH and STMicroElectronics closed up by 1%-3%.<\/p>\n

Legrand, Saint-Gobain and Carrefour ended weak.<\/p>\n

A report from the Bank of England showed net mortgage approvals for house purchase in UK fell by 3,100 to 61,013 in December. This was the lowest since June 2024.<\/p>\n

Consumer credit fell to GBP 1.5 billion in December from GBP 2.1 billion in November. Nonetheless, the annual growth in consumer credit remained unchanged at 8.2%.<\/p>\n

Further, UK businesses borrowed a GBP 1.0 billion from banks and building societies, following net borrowing of GBP 6.2 billion in November, data showed.<\/p>\n

Data from Destatis showed import prices in Germany declined 2.3% in December from a year ago, following a 1.9% drop in November. However, the decline was slower than economists’ forecast of 2.6% fall. Month-on-month, import prices edged down 0.1%, in contrast to the 0.5% rise in November. Prices were expected to fall 0.4%.<\/p>\n

Export prices remained flat on a yearly basis compared to the 0.3% rise in November. On a monthly basis, export prices slid 0.1%. In 2025 as a whole, import prices decreased 0.3% compared with 2024 and export prices increased 1%, data showed.<\/p>\n

A separate data from the federal statistical office showed the German economy<\/span> expanded 0.3% on quarter in the last three months of 2025, the strongest performance in three quarters, compared to a flat reading in the previous period and above forecasts of 0.2%, preliminary estimates showed. <\/p>\n

For 2026, the German government forecasts economic growth of 1%. Growth in 2027 is seen at 1.3%. <\/p>\n

Germany’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 6.3% in January 2026, highlighting a sluggish and uneven recovery in Europe’s largest labor market. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, unemployment rose by 176,600 to 3.08 million, marking its highest level in nearly 12 years.<\/p>\n

A preliminary reading on consumer price inflation for the month of January is due later in the day.<\/p>\n

The French economy grew at a slower pace towards the end of the year as political and fiscal uncertainty weighed on investment and consumption, official data revealed on Friday.<\/p>\n

Gross domestic product posted a quarterly growth of 0.2% in the fourth quarter, the statistical office INSEE reported. The rate came in line with expectations and followed third quarter’s 0.5% expansion and the 0.3% rise in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

Overall economic growth in 2025 softened to 0.9% from 1.1% in 2024.<\/p>\n

The 2026 outlook is moderately positive, with GDP growth expected to reach around 1%. Growth could reach 1.1% next year but political and fiscal risks remain elevated, ING economist Charlotte de Montpellier said.<\/p>\n

Another report from INSEE showed household consumption in France dropped 0.6% in December, worse than November’s 0.3% decrease. <\/p>\n

In a separate report, the INSEE said domestic producer prices declined 2% in December from a year ago, sharper than November’s 1.5% drop. At the same time, the monthly growth eased to 0.2% from 2.8% in November.<\/p>\n

Data from Eurostat said the euro area unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in December, while the rate was expected to remain unchanged at 6.3%. The youth unemployment rate dropped slightly to 14.3% from 14.4% in November.<\/p>\n

The overall unemployment rate in the EU was stable at 5.9% in December. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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