European Stocks Close Higher After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Friday with investors largely making cautious moves amid worries about Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Investors also continued to weigh the near term impact of the recent monetary policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine failed to result in any progress.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping for nearly two hours on Friday morning to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It is not known as yet whether Biden has convinced China to turn down Russian requests for military and economic aid.

According to a readout of the call from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Xi told Biden that the United States and China each had an obligation to promote peace. Xi also reportedly expressed his belief that "conflict and confrontation are not in anyone's interest, and peace and security are what the international community should treasure the most."

The White House has yet to issue a formal readout of the call.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.91% today, and closed the week with a 5.2% gain, its best weekly performance since the week ended November 6, 2020.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.28%, France's CAC 40 moved up 0.17% and Germany's DAX advanced 0.12%, while Switzerland's SMI surged up 1.02%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey closed notably higher.

Finland, Greece, Norway and Spain edged up marginally. Iceland and Poland drifted lower, while Portugal ended flat.

In the UK market, Ocado Group surged up 7.6%. Entain climbed 4.4%, while Kingfisher and Berkeley Group Holdings moved up 3.3% and 3.1%, respectively.

Lloyds Banking Group, Flutter Entertainment, B&M European Value Retail, Croda International, Halma, Rightmove, Taylor Wimpey, Royal Mail and Aveva Group gained 2 to 2.5%. British American Tobacco, Segro, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Sage Group and Scottish Mortgage also ended notably higher.

Polymetal International tumbled nearly 14%. Airtel Africa, ITV, Antofagasta, BP, M&G, Phoenix Group Holdings, Shell, Coca-Cola HBC, Rolls-Royce Holdings and BT Group shed 1 to 2.5%.

ArcelorMittal declined more than 2%. Societe Generale, Airbus, Sanofi, Orange, Vivendi, Vinci and Unibail Rodamco ended lower by 1 to 2%.

In the German market, HelloFresh soared more than 8.5%. Puma gained about 1.8%, while Fresenius, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Boerse, Sartorius and Linde gained 1 to 1.3%.

Vonovia, Henkel, Deutsche Wohnen, HeidelbergCement and Daimler lost 2.5 to 3.5%. Volkswagen, MTU Aero Engines, Fresenius Medical Care and BMW also ended notably lower.

In Paris, Atos, Valeo, STMicroElectronics and Dassault Systemes moved up 2.3 to 3.2%. Capgemini, Teleperformance, LVMH, Kering, WorldLine and Pernod Ricard gained 1 to 2%.

In economic news, data from Eurostat showed the eurozone trade deficit narrowed in January to EUR 7.7 billion from EUR 9.7 billion in December. The trade balance has been negative for the third straight month.

Eurostat said the trade balance increased slightly in January compared to December when it had reached a level almost as low as in July 2008 when the lowest level since the start of the time series in 1999 had been recorded.

Month-on-month, exports grew by a seasonally adjusted 3.4% and imports advanced 2.3% in January.

The EU trade deficit narrowed to a seasonally adjusted EUR 14.8 billion from EUR 17.4 billion a month ago.

On a yearly basis, eurozone exports climbed 18.9% in January. Meanwhile, imports logged a strong 44.3% expansion. As a result, the trade balance turned to a deficit of EUR 27.2 billion from a surplus of EUR 10.7 billion in the previous year.