European Stocks Close Lower On Weak Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Friday as rising eurozone inflation and disappointing U.S. jobs data weighed on sentiment.

Data showing a drop in German industrial output, and lingering worries about the surge in Omicron variant of the coronavirus hurt as well.

The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 0.39%. Germany's DAX slid 0.65% and France's CAC 40 shed 0.42%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.47%, while Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.04%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Netherlands, Norway, Russia and Turkey closed higher. Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Spain and Sweden ended weak, while Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Poland and Portugal settled flat.

In the UK market, Anglo American Plc, BHP Group, Prudential, Rio Tinto, Legal & General Group, Barclays, BP, Standard Chartered and Antofagasta gained 2 to 3%.

Diageo, B&M European Value Retail, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Aveva Group and Dechra Pharmaceuticals shed 2 to 3%.

In Paris, Hermes International declined nearly 4%. Pernod Ricard, Capgemini, Essilor and Dassault Systems shed 2 to 3.1%.

Schneider Electric, LVMH, Sodexo, Airbus and Unibail Rodamco shed 1 to 1.6%.

STMicroElectronics gained 3.5% after reporting strong fourth-quarter sales. ArcelorMittal and Veolia also ended sharply higher. Credit Agricole and Societe Generale also closed notably higher.

In the German market, HelloFresh, Puma, Vonovia, Linde, Adidas, Linde, Daimler, Porsche Automobil, Deutsche Wohnen and Siemens declined sharply.

Deutsche Bank gained about 1.7% after the company's finance chief said it was confident it will reach a key profitability target this year.

Infineon Technologies, Henkel and Covestro posted strong gains.

In virus news, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is killing people across the globe and should not be dismissed as mild.

In economic releases, Eurozone's inflation accelerated further in December to set a fresh record high, rising 5% year-on-year after a 4.9 percent increase in November. Economists had expected the figure to ease to 4.7%.

Eurozone economic sentiment weakened more than expected to a seven-month low as the Omicron variant weighed on services activity towards the end of the year, monthly survey results from the European Commission showed on Friday.

The economic confidence index declined to 115.3 in December from 117.6 in November. The reading was forecast to fall moderately to 116.0 and reached its lowest level since May.

Eurozone retail sales grew at the fastest pace in five months in November, Eurostat data showed. Retail sales advanced unexpectedly by 1% month-on-month, following October's 0.3% increase.

German industrial output dropped 0.2% month-on-month in November, reversing a 2.4% rise in October, Destatis said. Economists had forecast production to climb 1%. On a yearly basis, industrial production declined 2.4% after easing 0.9% in the previous month.

Another report from Destatis showed Germany's exports increased 1.7% on a monthly basis in November, slower than the 4.2% increase seen in October. Imports growth eased to 3.3% from 5.2% in the previous month.

The trade surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted EUR 10.9 billion from EUR 12.4 billion a month ago. The surplus was well below the expected level of EUR 12.8 billion.

France industrial production declined unexpectedly in November, data from the statistical office Insee showed. Industrial output fell 0.4% in November from October, when it was up 0.9%.

Likewise, manufacturing output declined 0.6%, in contrast to the 1.1% rise in the previous month.

U.K. house price inflation accelerated sharply at the end of 2021, but the pace is set to slow this year amid expectations of further interest rate hikes and increasing pressures on household budgets, results of a survey by the Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax and IHS Markit showed.

The house price index rose 9.8% year-on-year following an 8.2% increase in November. The latest house price inflation figure was the highest since July 2007.

In Switzerland, seasonally adjusted retail sales increased 1.3 percent in November on monthly basis, data from Federal Statistical Office showed.

Data from the Labor Department showed non-farm payroll employment rose by 199,000 jobs in December after climbing by an upwardly revised 249,000 jobs in November. Economists had expected employment to jump by 400,000 jobs compared to the addition of 210,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Despite the weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate slid to 3.9% in December from 4.2% in November. The unemployment rate was expected to edge down to 4.1%.