European Stocks Close On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Friday amid hopes of some positive outcome from the talks between Russia and Ukraine, and data showing stronger than expected UK GDP growth.

Hopes about a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine rose following reports quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin as stating that there were certain "positive shifts" in talks with Ukraine.

Investors also continued to digest the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank, and assess inflation and the likely impact of the Ukraine war on the global economy.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.95%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.8%, Germany's DAX surged up 1.38% and France's CAC 40 moved up 0.85%, while Switzerland's SMI gained 0.92%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Netherlands and Turkey closed with modest gains, while Denmark and Norway closed marginally up.

In the UK market, Pearson soared 18%. Polymetal International surged up 12.1% and Melrose Industries climbed 7.3%.

Flutter Entertainment, Entain, CRH, Admiral Group, Ashtead Group, Ferguson, Intercontinental Hotels Group and Coca-Cola HBC gained 3 to 5%.

Taylor Wimpey, Whitbread, Glencore, Persimmon, Informa, Rentokil Initial, Anglo American Plc, Compass Group and Barclays gained 2 to 2.8%.

Fresnillo tumbled 4.7%. United Utilities, Severn Trent and National Grid lost 1.4 to 2%. Reckitt Benckiser and British American Tobacco both ended lower by a little over 1%.

In the German market, Adidas and Airbus both gained nearly 4%. Siemens, Allianz and Bayer moved up 3 to 3.5%, while Deutsche Wohnen, HeidelbergCement, SAP, Deutsche Wohnen, Fresenius Medical Care, Infineon Technologies, Porsche Automobil, BASF, Puma, Deutsche Post and Munich RE gained 1.3 to 2.5%.

Lanxess AG shares gained about 4.5%. The German specialty chemicals company reported a decline in earnings for the full year while sales improved from last year.

Sartorius and Symrise shed about 3.2% and 3%, respectively. RWE, Qiagen, Deutsche Bank, Brenntag and HelloFresh lost 1 to 2%.

In the French market, Airbus rallied nearly 4%. ArcelorMittal, Accor, Safran, Publicis Groupe, AXA and Sodexo gained 2 to 3.5%. Saint Gobain, LVMH, Schneider Electric, Unibail Rodamco and Air Liquide also ended notably higher.

French ophthalmic company EssilorLuxottica nearly 3%. The company reported that its net profit attributable to owners of the parent for fiscal year 2021 climbed to 1.46 billion euros from last year's 85 million euros.

Valeo, Renault and Faurecia closed weak.

Italian fashion group Tod's jumped nearly 8%. The company expressed optimism for 2022 after swinging to an operating profit in 2021 on higher sales.

In economic releases, German consumer price inflation rose to 5.1% in February from 4.9% in January, final results from the statistical office Destatis revealed. The rate matched the flash estimate published on March 1.

U.K. GDP grew 0.8% in January, in contrast to the 0.2% fall in December, when the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and Plan B restrictions had a more significant impact, official data showed. Economists had forecast a marginal growth of 0.2% for January.

The UK visible trade deficit increased sharply in January due to a double-digit fall in exports amid surging imports, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday. The visible trade deficit widened to GBP 26.5 billion from GBP 12.35 billion in December.