BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The benchmark indexes of the major European markets settled roughly flat on Thursday, managing to find some support in the closing hour. The mood remained cautious right through the trading day with investors following geopolitical developments and looking ahead to the crucial U.S. non-farm payroll data due on Friday.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down by 0.19%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down by 0.04%, Germany's DAX crept up 0.02%, and France's CAC 40 closed with a gain of 0.12%. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.2%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Spain and Turkiye closed higher.
Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Sweden ended weak, while Denmark and Portugal closed flat.
Defense stocks moved higher after U.S. President Donald Trump called for higher U.S. defense spending.
In the UK market, Coca-Cola HBC, BAE Systems and Endeavour Mining gained 4.4 to 5.6%.
Marks & Spencer surged about 5% after reporting healthy food sales growth over the vital Christmas period.
Whitbread, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Reckitt Benckiser, Natwest Group, Aviva, Entain, Diageo, Phoenix Group Holdings, Smith & Nephew, Lloyds Banking Group, Legal & General and JD Sports Fashion moved up 1to 2.3%.
Associated British Foods tanked 14% to a near 9-month low, following a profit warning by the group after Primark suffered a difficult Christmas amid a challenging UK clothing market, weaker sales in continental Europe and a volatile US retail backdrop.
Tesco tumbled 6.8% after UK like-for-like sales growth narrowly missed forecasts.
Shell and Croda International lost 3.52% and 2.6%, respectively. Glencore, Airtel Africa, Sainsbury (J), DCC, Fresnillo, SSE, Diploma, Barratt Redrow, Antofagasta, Mondi and Schroders also ended notably lower.
In the German market, Deutsche Telekom rallied 3.6%. Adidas, Bayer, Commerzbank, Rheinmetall, Henkel, E.ON, Allianz, Fresenius, Gea Group, Beiersdorf and Continental gained 1 to 3%.
Siemens Energy, Infineon, Qiagen and Zalando lost 2.4 to 4%. Siemens and MTU Aero Engines also ended notably lower.
In the French market, BNP Paribas and Pernod Ricard climbed up 3% and 2.9%, respectively. Hermes International, L'Oreal, Danone, Societe Generale, Kering, Stellantis, Credit Agricole, Orange and Veolia Environment also posted strong gains.
Schneider Electric tumbled 4%. Renault, STMicroElectronics, Legrand, ArcelorMittal, TP and Saint Gobain lost 1.7 to 3.3%.
In economic news, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Germany's factory orders jumped 5.6% mom in November 2025, picking up from an upwardly revised 1.6% increase in the prior month. This marked the third straight monthly gain and the strongest pace since December 2024.
Data from Eurostat showed the euro area unemployment rate dropped marginally in November, falling to 6.3% from 6.4 percent in October. The rate was expected to remain unchanged at 6.4%.
The youth unemployment rate dropped to 14.6% from 14.8% in October.
The unemployment rate in the EU27 was 6% in November, unchanged from October.
France's trade deficit widened to €4.2 billion in December 2025 from a revised €3.5 billion in November, in line with expectations. Imports rose 2% month-on-month to €56.4 billion, while exports grew more moderately by 0.8% to €52.2 billion.
UK house prices logged a slower growth in December as uncertainty weighed on housing market activity towards the end of the year, data from the mortgage lender Halifax showed.
House price growth halved to 0.3% in December from 0.6% in November. Average property price was GBP 297,755, which was the lowest since June.
Month-on-month, house prices dropped 0.6%, worse than November's 0.1% fall. This was the second consecutive fall in prices.
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