BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European markets closed mixed on Friday, struggling to find support past mid-afternoon. The mood remained cautious with investors assessing the prospects of a U.S.-Iran peace deal after the two nations agreed in principle to extend the ceasefire by sixty days.
The agreement would purportedly facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and enable fresh negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, although President Donald Trump has yet to sign off on the deal.
Investors also digested a slew of regional economic data.
The pan European Stoxx 600 closed up 0.14%. Germany's DAX ended 0.05% up, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 0.16% and 0.07%, respectively.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Spain and Sweden ended higher.
Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia and Türkiye closed weak.
In the UK market, Endeavour Mining climbed 4.2%, AutoTrader Group moved up 3.4% and Airtel Africa gained nearly 2.5%, while Convatec Group, DCC, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Diploma and Natwest Group ended up by 1.5%-2%.
SSE, Diageo, Imperial Brands, British American Tobacco, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Sainsbury (J), Intercontinental Hotels Group and National Grid lost 2%-3.1%.
In the German market, Scout24 climbed 3.7%. SAP, Zalando and Heidelberg Materials gained 2%-2.5%.
Gea Group, Infineon, Brenntag, E.ON, Commerzbank and Merck also ended notably higher.
Beiersdorf and Bayer drifted down by about 3.5%. Symrise, Siemens Energy, Deutsche Bank, BMW, Fresenius, Vonovia, Hannover RE, Mercedes-Benz and Munich RE also ended notably lower.
In the French market, Teleperformance climbed 5%. Societe Generale, Kering, Michelin, Credit Agricole, Publicis Groupe, BNP Paribas, Airbus, Eurofins Scientific, Schneider Electric, Bureau Veritas and Safran gained 0.8%-1.8%.
STMicroelectronics, Air Liquide, Stellantis, LVMH, Pernod Ricard, Danone, Sanofi and L'Oreal shed 1%-2.5%.
In economic news, Germany's import prices increased at the fastest pace since early 2023 in April due to the sharp increases in energy and intermediate goods prices amid the war in the Middle East, data from Destatis showed.
Import prices grew 5.3% year-on-year in April after rising 2.3% in the previous month. This was the fastest growth since January 2023 and also marked the second consecutive rise. On a monthly basis, import prices climbed 1.2%, slower than the 3.6% increase a month ago.
Export prices posted an annual growth of 2.9% in April, which was the strongest rise since March 2023. This was followed by the 1.5% rise in March. Month-on-month, export prices were up 0.8%.
Germany's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.3% in May, down from April's near six-year high of 6.4%, slightly beating market expectations, data from the Federal Employment Agency showed.
Data from INSEE said France's annual inflation rate accelerated to 2.4% in May 2026, from 2.2% in April, according to preliminary estimates. That was below expectations of 2.5%, but the highest level since February 2024.
Meanwhile, the EU-harmonised annual inflation rate rose to 2.8% from 2.5%, while monthly CPI increased by 0.1% following a 1.2% rise in the previous month, with both figures coming in line with market expectations.
France's economy contracted by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2026, compared with preliminary estimates of a flat reading and reversing a 0.2% expansion in the fourth quarter of the previous year. This marked the first contraction since Q2 2020.
On a yearly basis, GDP expanded 0.9%, lower than initial estimates of 1.1% and slowing from 1.3% in Q4.
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