LONDON — European markets closed mostly higher on Friday as investors charted the course for monetary policy and economic growth.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 tentatively closed 0.2% higher with most major exchanges in positive territory. The sectors showed a more mixed picture, with travel and leisure stocks climbing 3.9% while retail stocks fell 0.4%.
The European blue chip index ended Thursday’s session in mixed territory, as European stocks were guided throughout the week mainly by key data points from the United States and a deluge of earnings reports. companies.
In terms of individual stock price movement, British paper and packaging company Mondi climbed more than 11% to top the Stoxx 600 after agreeing to sell its Russian business for $1.56 billion.
German energy giant Uniper soared nearly 10% after suggesting it could start using US gas instead of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) it gets from Woodside in Australia, to increase the supply to Europe during the winter.
At the bottom of the index, German railway braking systems company Knorr Bremse fell 11% after its results were released.
Data deluge
Investors in Europe digested a slew of economic data releases on Friday, including a preliminary reading of UK second-quarter GDP, impressions of July inflation in France, Spain and Italy and industrial production. of the euro area for June.
Britain’s economy shrank in the second quarter of 2022 as the country’s cost of living crisis hit home. Official figures released on Friday showed gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 0.1% quarter on quarter in the second quarter of the year, less than the 0.3% contraction expected by analysts.
Investors also had colder-than-expected U.S. inflation data on Wednesday.
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