This was CNBC’s live blog covering European markets.
European stock markets closed lower on Friday after hitting record highs earlier this week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.24% lower, snapping a four-session winning streak that has marked a series of record highs. The index nonetheless marked its eighth consecutive week of gains, which have taken it around 9% higher so far this year.
Investors have been reacting to a flurry of corporate earnings and the prospect of a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced peace talks were set to begin after he spoke with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts.
Corporate earnings remained in focus in Europe on Friday. British lender NatWest reported its full-year earnings, beating estimates on profit and revenues. The company, which is still partly owned by the state, said that the U.K. government had reduced its stake in the bank from 7.98% to 6.98%. Shares were 3% lower during early afternoon deals.
Haute couture fashion house Hermes also reported better-than-expected earnings on Friday. Its shares moved 1.7% higher by 3:43 p.m. London time.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday, while U.S. stocks were little changed on the last day of the week as investors considered the global trade outlook as President Donald Trump signed a reciprocal tariffs plan, but did not enact the levies immediately.
Europe stocks close lower
Europe’s Stoxx 600 index closed 0.24% lower on Friday after marking four all-time closing highs, but still ended with a weekly gain of nearly 2%.
France’s CAC 40 index bucked the downbeat trend Friday adding 0.18%, while Germany’s DAX and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 fell 0.44% and 0.37%, respectively.
— Jenni Reid
Sterling hits 2-month high against the U.S. dollar
The British pound on Friday rose to its highest level against the dollar in 2025, after U.K. GDP results came in better than expected earlier in the week.
Sterling was last up 0.43% against the U.S. dollar at $1.2617.
The U.K. economy grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, per preliminary estimates released Thursday from the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics (ONS). GDP was expected to contract by 0.1% during the period, according to economists polled by Reuters.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar weakened as U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order for reciprocal tariffs on foreign nations on Thursday. Trump held off from implementing those levies immediately.
“The pound was buoyed by the broad risk on mode in market on Thursday, and the mild surprise to the upside in the latest GDP report for Q4,” said Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury.
Ryan added that the outlook for the U.K. economy looks complicated in 2025 due to growth flatlining in the second half of last year, high inflation, high mortgages, and high tax burdens.
“In one respect, growth should be buoyed by resilient consumer spending, Britain’s isolation from global demand and Labour’s large fiscal injection. Yet, clear downside risks remain, particularly stemming from the government’s business tax raid and high government borrowing costs, which will both keep mortgage rates elevated and raise the risk of either more tax hikes or spending cuts from the Treasury in the Spring,” Ryan said.
— Sawdah Bhaimiya
Tomra Systems shares rise after firm reports strong fourth-quarter results
Norwegian sustainable technology company Tomra Systems was the biggest winner on the Stoxx 600 on Friday, after reporting strong fourth-quarter financial results for 2024.
Tomra Systems shares soared over 11% on Friday afternoon. The company manufactures collection and sorting systems for the food, recycling, and mining industries.
Revenues rose 12% to 398 million euros ($417 million) in the fourth quarter, compared to 354 million euros the previous year. The firm’s revenues in recycling jumped 37% to 103 million euros and food revenues grew 13% to 91 million euros.
Tove Andersen, president and CEO of Tomra Systems, said results for the company’s collections division exceeded expectations.
“Yet the greatest news in the quarter have really been the historical progress made by policymakers on the circular agenda. The EU’s adoption of the Packaging and Packing Waste Regulation (PPWR) will shape circularity for decades, introducing the first-ever legally binding recycled content requirements for packaging, DRS in all EU countries, and many additional promising obligations for the industry to boost recycling rates,” Anderson said.
“With DRS regulation now in place in several countries including Spain and the UK, the coming years look very encouraging for increased circularity. TOMRA is well positioned and stands ready to support the industry in realizing these ambitions.”
— Sawdah Bhaimiya
Stocks are little changed at Friday’s open
The S&P 500 opened just above flat shortly after market open, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 0.1% lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added less than 0.1%.
— Pia Singh
HBX Group shares fall after IPO
Shares of Spanish travel firm HBX Group continued to sell off on Friday, a day after the company’s stock market debut.
The company priced its initial public offering at 11.50 euros ($12.03) a share and began trading on Spanish Stock Exchanges on Thursday. Ahead of the IPO, HBX Group said the pricing would give the company a market cap of 2.84 billion euros, with existing shareholders retaining 63.7% of the firm’s share capital.
On its first trading day, HBX stock fell below its IPO price to end Thursday’s session at 11 euros per share.
— Chloe Taylor
Umicore shares plummet after full-year earnings
Shares of Belgian recycling and materials firm Umicore tumbled to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 on Friday, shedding 10.3% by 11:50 a.m. London time.
The company reported an adjusted net profit of 255 million euros ($266.9 million) for 2024, a 43% drop from a year earlier, citing a slowdown in demand for electric vehicles and declining revenues in its battery materials division.
Umicore CEO Bart Sap described 2024 as “a sobering and intense year” in a statement on Friday.
— Chloe Taylor
Safran beats profit and revenue expectations
Safran reported a 51% uear-on-year jump in net profit to more than 3.07 billion euros ($3.21 billion) in 2024, marginally beating estimates of 3.02 billion euros, according to FactSet.
The French jet-engine maker also posted a record across-the-board 17.8% annual increase in consolidated sales to 27.72 billion euros for 2024, compared to 27.16 billion euros estimated by analysts, according to FactSet.
Safran’s Paris-listed stock rose by 0.5% after the full-year results were announced. The company also raised its expectations for recurring revenues for the current year to between 4.8 and 4.9 billion euros, an increase of 100 million euros from its previously guided range.
“Thanks to the efforts of our teams and despite persistent supply chain difficulties as well as residual inflationary pressures, Safran delivered another remarkable year with revenues, profits and cash flows reaching record levels,” Safran CEO Olivier Andriès said in a statement.
RBC Capital Markets analysts, who expect the stock to rise by 11.2% over the next 12 months, said the results for positive for the company’s outlook.
“We view the overall increase in guidance as a positive for sentiment on the stock,” said RBC’s Ken Herbert in a note to clients.
— Ganesh Rao
Hermes shares pop after fourth-quarter results
Haute couture fashion house Hermes on Friday reported a better-than-expected jump in fourth-quarter sales, proving still strong demand for the most exclusive products in an otherwise turbulent luxury market.
Hermes shares opened nearly 5% higher.
The maker of the Birkin handbag posted a 17.6% rise in revenues at constant exchange rates to 3.96 billion euros ($4.15 billion) in the three months to Dec. 31, outpacing the 3.69 billion euros forecast by LSEG analysts.
Full-year sales rose 14.7% at constant exchange rates to 15.2 billion euros versus an anticipated 14.94 billion euros.
— Karen Gilchrist
Goldman upgrades prospects for European stocks
Goldman Sachs has raised the upside potential for European stocks on rising odds of peace in Ukraine.
“For European equities we see a number of potential benefits lower risk premium, lower energy prices, better consumer confidence, stronger economic growth,” said Goldman strategists led by Sharon Bell in a note to clients on Jan. 14.
Goldman pointed to speculation in media as well as private betting markets that suggest the probability of a ceasefire this year have risen to 70%.
“Our economists estimate a potential Euro area GDP increase of 0.2% in a limited ceasefire scenario and a 0.5% boost in an upside scenario,” the bank’s strategists added.
— Ganesh Rao
