European Stocks 3-day Winning Streak, Close Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - European stocks ended sharply lower on Friday as risk sentiment waned amid concerns over higher interest rates and rising geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.

Investors also digested a slew of earnings updates from the region and mixed economic data from Germany and France.

The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 1.02%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 1.17%, Germany's DAX drifted down 1.32% and France's CAC 40 shed 0.82%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkey closed with sharp to moderate losses.

Sweden edged down marginally, while Ireland and Russia ended higher.

In the UK market, Ocado Group plunged 7.6% a day after the grocery specialist announced it has developed robots which will enable cheaper, faster deliveries.

Polymetal International, Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc, Melrose Industries, Rio Tinto, Barclays, Associated British Foods, St. James Place, Reckitt Benckiser, Prudential, IAG, BHP Group, Glencore, Standard Chartered, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Lloyds Banking Group shed 2 to 4.2%.

Kingfisher, Next, BT Group, Flutter Entertainment, ABRDN, Taylor Wimpey, Entain, Sage Group, Vodafone Group, Tesco, B&M European Value Retail and Sainsbury (J) gained 1 to 2.2%.

In the German market, Henkel plunged more than 10% as it announced plans to merge its business units Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care into one business unit: Henkel Consumer Brands.

Infineon Technologies, SAP, Adidas, Symrise, MTU Aero Engines, BMW and Continental lost 2 to 4%.

Porsche Automobil declined nearly 2%. Daimler, Linde, Fresenius Medical Care, Siemens and RWE also ended sharply lower.

Sartorius rallied nearly 4%. Zalando, Deutsche Wohnen, Merck, Qiagen, Siemens Healthineers, Bayer and HelloFresh ended with moderate gains.

In Paris, ArcelorMittal ended nearly 6% down. Safran, Danone, Schneider Electric, Essilor, Airbus, BNP Paribas, Renault, Pernod Ricard and Veolia shed 2 to 4%.

LVMH gained nearly 2%. The French luxury goods company said that revenue last year totaled 64.2 billion euros ($71.6 billion), topping the previous record set in 2019.

Orange gained about 1.5%, while Accor, Atos and Carrefour edged up marginally.

Shares of Swiss building material company Holcim ended 0.4% down. The company said it has partnered with Eni to advance its carbon capture portfolio.

Sweden's H&M moved up more than 5% after the fashion retailer reported higher-than-expected profit for the September-November period and said it aims to double sales by 2030.

Dutch lighting maker Signify NV soared 11% after reporting higher quarterly earnings.

In economic news, the French economy logged a moderate growth at the end of 2021 after a strong rebound in the third quarter with the reopening in several sectors of activity, the statistical office Insee said on Friday.

Gross domestic product grew by a more-than-expected 0.7% sequentially, following a 3.1% rise in the third quarter. Economists had forecast a quarterly expansion of 0.5%.

France's producer prices rose at a faster annual pace in December to set a new historical high, preliminary data from the statistical office INSEE showed. The total producer price index climbed 16.9% year-on-year after a 16.7% increase in November.

German import prices unexpectedly slowed at the end of last year, but the pace of increase remained strong, preliminary data from the statistical office Destatis showed.

The import price index rose 24% year-on-year following a 24.7% increase in November. Economists had expected 26.4% inflation.

The annual average import price inflation was 13.5% in 2021, which was the highest since 1981 when it was 13.7%. In 2020, import prices decreased 4.3%.

The German economy contracted more than expected as new restrictions imposed at the end of the year dampened household spending, data released by Destatis revealed. Gross domestic product fell 0.7% sequentially, reversing the 1.7% expansion in the third quarter. Economists had forecast the economy to contract 0.3%.

A leading indicator of turning points in Switzerland's economy rose unexpectedly in January, for the first time in eight months, signaling a favorable outlook, results of a closely-watched survey showed Friday.

The economic barometer rose to a three-month high of 107.8 from 107.2 in December, which was revised from 107.0, results of the monthly survey by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute showed. Economists had expected the reading to drop further to 106.3.