European Stocks Close Higher

(RTTNews) - European stocks moved higher on Friday amid optimism the U.S. lawmakers will agree on a debt ceiling deal sometime soon and help avert the risk of default.

However, stocks pared some gains in the closing minutes amid some uncertainty about a deal on reports GOP negotiators had walked out of the debt ceiling meeting.

In economic releases, Germany's producer prices posted their slowest annual growth in two years in April, Destatis reported earlier today.

Producer prices registered an annual growth of 4.1% in April after rising 6.7% in March. This was the weakest increase since April 2021, when prices gained 5.2%. Economists had forecast a 4% rise.

Separately, survey data from the market research group GfK showed that U.K. consumer confidence continued to strengthen in May.

The consumer sentiment index posted -27 in May compared to -30 in April - marking improvement for the fourth straight month.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.66%, hitting a one-year high. Germany's DAX, which scaled a new peak, gained 0.69%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.19% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.61%. Switzerland's SMI surged 1.17%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden closed higher.

Iceland, Portugal and Russia ended weak, while Czech Republic ended flat.

In the UK market, BT surged more than 3%. ICP, Scottish Mortgage, Flutter Entertainment, St. James's Place, SSE, Hiscox, Hargreaves Lansdown and British Land Company gained 1.5 to 2.3%.

JD Sports Fashion tumbled nearly 8%. Polymetal Internationanl declined 7.2%. EasyJet ended nearly 5% down, and Burberry Group lost 4.1%.

Persimmon, Royal Mail, Berkeley Holdings, Carnival, IAG, Kingfisher, NEXT, TUI, Standard Chartered, Intercontinental and Melrose also declined sharply.

In the German market, Merck, Porsche, Fresenius Medical Care, Munich RE and Hannover Rueck climbed 2.2 to 3.2%.

E.ON, Siemens Healthineers, Fresenius, Deutsche Boerse, Symrise and Siemens gained 1 to 1.5%.

Puma ended lower by about 5.5%. Adidas ended lower by 3.2%, while Commerzbank, MTU Aero Engines, Zalando and Covestro lost 1 to 1.4%.

In Paris, Veolia, Stellantis, Sanofi, Saint Gobain, Schneider Electric, Capgemini, Legrand, Dassault Systemes, L'Oreal, Carrefour and Air Liquide gained 1 to 2%.

Kering declined 1.7% and Essilor ended 1.6% down. Thales, WorldLine, Vivendi and Renault also closed weak.