BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The major European markets closed lower on Friday as largely weak regional PMI data, and concerns about inflation and monetary tightening amid continued rise in oil prices hurt sentiment. France's debt woes and uncertainty about returns on AI-related investments weighed as well.
Investors also reacted to a slew of corporate earnings announcements.
Oil prices climbed higher amid persisting tensions in the Middle East after Houthis launched strikes in Saudi Arabia. Brent crude front-month futures climbed past $115.00 a barrel before paring gains.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.31%. The UK's FTSE 100 settled lower by 0.32%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.75% and 0.36%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI shed 0.59%.
Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland and Türkiye closed notably lower.
Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended on firm note. Austria and Portugal edged up marginally.
In the UK market, Rolls-Royce Holdings dropped 7.6% on reports the company neared a deal for up to £200 million in UK government subsidies to develop a new short-haul aircraft engine.
Fresnillo tumbled 6%. Diploma, Computacenter, Melrose Industries, Burberry, Games Workshop, IAG, Metlen Energy & Metals, IG Group Holdings, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Informa, Airtel Africa and Endeavour Mining lost 2%-5%.
Energy stocks BP, Ithaca Energy and Shell climbed 4.4%, 4% and 3.7%, respectively, on higher crude oil prices.
Barratt Redrow, Compass Group, Smith & Nephew, Bunzl, Weir, Anglo American Plc and Convatec Group also closed notably higher.
In the German market, MTU Aero Engines ended nearly 5% down. Deutsche Telekom closed 3.1% down. Siemens Energy, Infineon, RWE, Merck, Porsche Automobil Holding and Mercedes-Benz also declined sharply.
Fresenius Medical Care drifted down 3.2%. Beiersdorf, Zalando, Fresenius and Heidelberg Materials gained 1.6%-2.5%. Commerzbank and E.On also ended with solid gains.
In the French market, Kering tanked nearly 17% to a more than 52-week low after third-quarter revenue came in flat year-on-year and down about 1% on a like-for-like basis.
Despite the company surpassing third-quarter revenue growth forecasts, shares of jet engine maker Safran plunged 10% on concerns about slowing aftermarket growth.
Stellantis lost about 6%. Hermes International closed lower by nearly 4% on disappointing quarterly results.
Accor, Renault, Edenred, Capgemini, STMicroelectronics, Schneider Electric, Engie, LVMH, Airbus, ArcelorMittal, Orange and Sanofi also ended weak.
L'Oreal rallied 5.7%, buoyed by strong third-quarter sales. Catering and food services group Sodexo jumped 7% after reporting stronger-than-expected full-year revenue.
TotalEnergies gained 4.3% as oil prices moved higher. EssilorLuxottica climbed 2.3%. Teleperformance, Eurofins Scientific, Dassault Systemes, BNP Paribas and Carrefour also finished with impressive gains.
On the economic front, Survey results from S&P Global showed France's private sector activity contracted in October, marking a reversal from September's growth rebound. The flash composite output index fell to a four-month low of 48.4 in October from 51.1 in the previous month.
Economists had forecast the index to drop moderately to 50.5. Moreover, a score below neutral 50.0 indicates contraction.
The services Purchasing Managers' Index posted 48.4, down from 51.2 in September. At the same time, the manufacturing PMI hit an 11-month low of 49.3 compared to 50.6 in the prior month.
UK retail sales declined more than expected in September as warm weather weighed on clothing and supermarket sales, data released by the Office for National Statistics showed. Retail sales decreased 0.4% in September, reversing a rise of 0.7% in August and exceeded economists' forecast of a 0.1% fall.
Excluding auto fuel, retail sales declined 0.7%, in contrast to the 0.9% increase in August. Economist had forecast a marginal 0.1% fall for September. Food and non-food stores sales decreased 0.4% each, while automotive fuel sales increased 2.2%.
On a yearly basis, retail sales growth eased to 0.8% from 2.7% in August. This was also slower than forecast of 1%.
Retail sales excluding auto fuel also advanced 0.8%, weaker than the 2.9% increase in the previous month. Economists had forecast sales to grow 1.5%.
Elsewhere, survey data from the market research group GfK showed that consumer confidence registered its sharpest fall in October since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. The consumer sentiment index declined 11 points to -24 in October.
Survey results from S&P Global showed the UK private sector continued to expand in October, with the flash Composite PMI Output Index rising to 53.1 from 52 in September, exceeding market expectations of 51.8 and reaching an eight-month high. The S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI rose to 52.8 in October 2026, up from 51.9 in September and above market expectations of 51.7, according to the preliminary estimate.
Germany's Manufacturing PMI rose to 54.2 in October from 53.9 in September, exceeding market expectations of 53.5, preliminary estimates from S&P Global showed. This marked a two-month high and signalled a continued improvement in manufacturing business conditions. However, manufacturing output growth eased, with the output index falling to 55.1 from 56.0, its lowest level in three months.
Germany's Services PMI fell to 51.7 in October from 52.9 in September, missing market expectations of 52.5, according to preliminary data.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
