(RTTNews) - After struggling for direction till around noon, European stocks moved higher and closed on a firm note on Friday on easing concerns about Middle East tensions and hopes that the Federal Reserve will not tighten its monetary policy for now.
The Labor Department's data showing a smaller than expected growth in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in the month of May helped raise hopes the Fed will not hike interest rates soon.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.68%. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.25%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 moved up 0.78% and 0.39%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI closed 0.5% up.
Germany's DAX hit a new all-time high, while France's CAC 40 climbed to its best levels since February 2026.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed higher.
Denmark, Iceland and Türkiye ended weak.
In the UK market, Lion Finance and Weir Group gained 2.8% and 2.6%, respectively. ICG, Metlen Energy & Metals, St. James's Place, Rolls-Royce Holdings, SSE, Aberdeen Group, Airtel Africa, Convatec Group, Associated British Foods, Smiths Group and Standard Chartered gained 1.5%-2.3%.
Fresnillo, Persimmon, Computacenter, Anglo American Plc, Endeavour Mining, IG Group Holdings and National Grid also moved notably higher.
Entain, Babcock International, DCC, Games Workshop, Tesco, AutoTrader Group, Pearson, Compass Group, Imperial Brands and Intercontinental Hotels Group shed 1%-2.2%.
In the German market, E.ON surged nearly 4.5%. Siemens, Gea Group, Daimler Truck Holding, Porsche Automobil Holding, Heidelberg Materials, Volkswagen, RWE, Deutsche Bank, Continental and Siemens Energy gained 1.3%-2.7%.
Rheinmetall, Scout24, SAP, Merck, Qiagen, Vonovia and Hannover RE ended sharp to moderately lower.
In the French market, ArcelorMittal climbed nearly 6%. Edenred moved up 3.7%, while Veolia Environment and Teleperformance gained 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively.
Engie, Renault, Legrand, Schneider Electric, Bouygues, Publicis Groupe, Airbus, STMicroelectronics, Safran, Bureau Veritas and Unibail Rodamco also ended notably higher.
Stellantis shed nearly 4%. EssilorLuxottica, Kering and L'Oreal drifted down 1.8%, 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively.
In economic news, final purchasing managers' survey results published by S&P Global showed the euro area private sector stabilized in June after two months of moderate decline.
The Eurozone composite output index registered 50.0 in June compared to 48.5 in May. The flash score was 49.5. The final services PMI rose to 49.4 from 47.7 in the previous month. The score was initially estimated at 48.9.
Germany's private sector contracted in June, reflecting the weakness in the service sector as the manufacturing posted an increase in production. The composite output index fell to 49.5 from 48.8 in the prior month. The reading was above the flash 48.0.
The services PMI came in at 48.6 in June, up from 48.1 in May. However, this was the highest score in the current three-month sequence of contraction and well above the initial estimate of 46.8.
Although French private sector activity improved from May, the sector remained in the contraction territory for the sixth straight month. The composite output index posted 47.2, down from May's 28-month low of 44.9 and the initial estimate of 47.6.
The services PMI climbed to 46.8 in June from 44.3 in the previous month. The flash score was 47.4.
France's industrial production dropped 0.1% on a monthly basis in May, in contrast to the 0.3% rise in April and 1.4% increase in March, data from INSEE showed. Economists had forecast a monthly decrease of 0.3%.
Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global UK Composite PMI fell to 49.3 in June from 49.7 in May, revised from the flash estimate of 49.4 for a second month of contraction following 11 months of expansion in the British private sector activity.
The Services sector PMI contracted to 48.8 in June from 49.3 in the previous month, while the Manufacturing sector PMI dropped to 52.5 in the month from May's reading of 53.9.
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