European Stocks Close Broadly Higher On Encouraging Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly higher on Friday, but most of the markets in the region still posted sharp losses in the July - September quarter.

Data showing a bigger than expected drop in Eurozone's annual inflation, and the British economy grew stronger than expected in the first quarter, helped underpin sentiment.

Meanwhile, personal income in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of August, according to a report released by the Commerce Department.

The report said personal income climbed by 0.4% in August after rising by 0.2% in July. The advance matched economist estimates. The report also said personal spending increased by 0.4% in August after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9% in July.

Data from Eurostat showed the Eurozone's annual inflation rate fell to 4.3% year-on-year in September, marking the lowest level since October 2021, supporting expectations that the European Central Bank will keep interest rates on hold.

The UK economy registered a stronger than estimated recovery in the first half of the year despite high inflation and tighter monetary policy. GDP increased 0.2% in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics reported. This followed an upwardly revised growth of 0.3% in the first quarter.

In the UK market, Pennon rallied nearly 6.5%. JD Sports Fashion, Severn Trent, Croda International, United Utilities, British Land Company, Land Securities, Persimmon, Segro, EasyJet, Just Eat Takeaway.com, Barratt Developments, Johnson Matthey, Phoenix Holdings and St. James's Place gained 2 to 5%.

Carnival dropped 5.5%. Hargreaves Lansdown, Royal Dutch Shell, CRH, Ferguson, BAE Systems, BP, Flutter Entertainment, Melrose Industries and Vodafone lost 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Commerzbank soared 11% after an announcement that it was revamping its pay-out policy for investors. The German lender said It intends to return a total of 3 billion euros to shareholders as dividends and share buy-backs for period of 2022 to 2024. To reach the target, the pay-out ratio will be at least 70% in 2024.

Adidas and Puma gained about 6.3% and 5.8%, respectively. Vonovia climbed 4.5%, while Qiagen, Siemens Energy, Zalando, Sartorius, Merck, RWE, Porsche, SAP and E.ON gained 1 to 2.3%.

Munich RE, HeidelbergCement, Allianz, Daimler Truck Holding and MTU Aero Engines ended lower by 1.1 to 1.4%.

In Paris, Unibail Rodamco and Teleperformance lost 3.8% and 3.4%, respectively. Legrand, Dassault Systemes, Danone, LVMH, STMicroElectronics, WorldLine and Capgemini gained 1 to 2.2%.

In other economic news from the Euro area, Germany's retail sales declined unexpectedly in August amid weaker demand for both food and non-food items, data from Destatis revealed on Friday.

In real terms, retail sales fell 1.2% month-over-month in August after remaining flat in July. In contrast, economists had expected a 0.5% gain for the month.

Another report from Destatis showed import prices fell 16.4% year-on-year in August after a 13.2% slump in July. In June, prices decreased 11.4%.

German unemployment increased less than expected in September, coming in at 5.7%, the Federal Labor Agency said Friday.

France's consumer price inflation held steady in September after rising in the previous month, a provisional estimate from the statistical office INSEE showed Friday. The consumer price index climbed 4.9% year-over-year in September, the same rate of increase as in the previous month. Meanwhile, economists had forecast inflation to rise to 5.1%.

Separate official report showed that producer prices increased for the first time in five months in August.