European stocks were higher heading into Friday afternoon, shaking off disappointing UK data, while Paris shares were up after a new prime minister was named.
The FTSE 100 index traded up 12.74 points, 0.2%, at 8,324.50. The FTSE 250 was up 23.30 points, 0.1%, at 20,972.34, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.59 points, 0.2%, at 735.97.
The Cboe UK 100 was 0.2% higher at 835.95, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 18,474.70, and the Cboe Small Companies fell 0.2% to 16,245.49.
The CAC 40 was up 0.3% in Paris. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.2% higher.
French President Emmanuel Macron named Francois Bayrou as his sixth prime minister. Bayrou has served as mayor of the south-western commune of Pau since 2014. He is a member of the centre-right Mouvement democrate, or Democratic Movement.
The German economy will post only modest growth next year after a decline of 0.2% in gross domestic product this year, the central bank predicted.
The Bundesbank cut its forecasts for both years from its predictions in June, and said economic recovery in 2026 would be weaker than previously forecast.
‘The German economy is not only battling economic headwinds, but also structural problems,’ Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said. Industry and its exports and investment were particularly affected, he said.
The eurozone’s industrial production decline was softer than expected in October, data published by Eurostat showed.
Industrial production fell by 1.2% on-year in October, slowed from a decline of 2.2% in September, the latter of which was upwardly revised from a previously reported 2.8% fall. October’s was less steep than the FXStreet-cited market consensus, which had expected a contraction of 1.9%.
Oxford Economics Assistant Economist James Kitchen said: ‘We think the eurozone’s industrial production is near its lowest point and will soon embark on a gradual recovery as it is set to benefit from monetary easing next year.’
Rabobank analysts expect the Bank of England to keep interest rates on hold at its meeting next week Thursday, despite weaker than expected economic data.
‘We also expect the Monetary Policy Committee to stick to the language of gradualism. Last week, Governor Bailey indicated that the path of least resistance is for quarterly cuts,’ the Rabobank analysts said.
The UK economy remained in the doldrums, registering a surprise decline in October, data showed.
According to the Office for National Statistics, UK gross domestic product fell 0.1% in October from a month prior. In September, GDP had fallen at the same rate.
Growth of 0.1% was expected for October, however, according to consensus cited by FXStreet.
The pound was quoted at $1.2653 midday Friday, falling from $1.2698 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro stood at $1.0494, up slightly from $1.0491. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥153.57, rising from JP¥152.22.
In London, Rentokil Initial was up 3.7%. The Crawley-based pest control services provider said Trian Fund Management bought 7.5 million shares at 413.31 pence each for a total of £31.0 million. The activist investor won a seat on the Rentokil board earlier this year.
St James’s Place was the best FTSE 250 performer, adding 3.4%. Deutsche Bank raised the stock to ’buy’.
On the AIM market in London, Impax Asset Management slumped 25% after receiving notice that it has lost some business from St James’s Place.
SJP has terminated Impax Asset Management’s mandate to manage the Sustainable & Responsible Equity Fund. The termination is to take effect in February, subject to the fund seeking final approval from unitholders at an extraordinary general meeting next month.
It represented the only business Impax Asset Management had with SJP and it totalled £5.2 billion of assets under management as of the end of November.
‘The impact on Impax’s revenue is expected to be circa £12.7 million on an annualized basis. The termination of the Mandate has been driven by SJP seeking to further diversify the fund across investment styles,’ Impax added.
Meanwhile, shares in Orcadian Energy jumped 15%.
The oil and gas development firm on noted that Serica will buy Parkmead Group’s UK offshore oil licences, which was announced Thursday.
Serica will become operator of licence P2634, in which Orcadian holds a 50% interest.
Orcadian CEO Steve Brown said: ‘We welcome Serica’s purchase of this very significant opportunity, which has the potential to be one of the largest remaining oil developments in the North Sea.’
Portmeirion fell 15%.
The designer of homeware products warned on annual revenue as it grapples with supply delays ahead of the key Christmas period.
The company cited ‘supply chain disruption from Asia and recent shipping disruption into the US due to port strikes’. In addition, it noted destocking in South Korea and ‘challenging and unpredictable’ trading conditions in key markets.
Portmeirion now expects 2024 revenue of £90 million, ‘below market expectations’. It would be 12% lower than £102.7 million it had reported in revenue for 2023.
Over to the US, investors eagerly await the last interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve due next week Wednesday, with a 25 basis points-cut widely anticipated.
‘The Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates by a further 25bp on 18 December as it continues to move policy from restrictive territory to somewhere closer to neutral. However, with inflation remaining sticky, and President-elect Trump looking to strengthen the US growth performance, the Fed is set to signal a more cautious policy easing profile for 2025,’ analysts at ING commented.
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.3%, the S&P 500 index up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite was called 0.7% higher.
Brent oil was quoted at $74.29 a barrel at midday in London on Friday, up from $72.61 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted at $2,665.64 an ounce, lower against $2,681.37.
Still to come on Friday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics will report export & import prices at 1330 GMT.
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