BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed higher on Friday, lifted by data showing stronger then expected UK economic growth, and dovish comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde who said the central bank will start lowering rates once inflation heads back to the 2% goal.
Data showing an unexpected drop in U.S. producer prices in the month of December helped as well.
Investors shrugged off data showing an acceleration in France's consumer price inflation.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.84%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.64%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 surged 0.95% and 1.05%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI ended 0.65% up.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.
Iceland, Poland and Russia edged up marginally. Portugal closed weak, while Austria ended flat.
In the UK market, JD Sports Fashion, Endeavour Mining, Fresnillo, RightMove, Antofagasta, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Rolls-Royce Holdings, B&M European Value Retail, Melrose Industries, BAE Systems and Relx gained 2 to 4%.
Burberry Group dropped more than 5% as it issued a profit warning in response to slowing demand. Informa and Centrica ended lower by 1.3% and 1%, respectively.
In the German market, Siemens Energy rallied nearly 4%. Vonovia gained about 2.75%, while SAP, Merck, Munich RE, Siemens Healthineers, Deutsche Boerse, Siemens, E.ON, Hannover Rueck, Bayer, Qiagen, Brenntag and Deutsche Post gained 1 to 2%.
Porsche drifted down 2.4%. BMW, Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, RWE and Covestro lost 1 to 2%.
In Paris, Teleperformance surged 4.5%. Airbus gained nearly 4% after the plane maker reported record annual jet orders, driven largely by mega deals from India's IndiGo and Air India, as well as a purchase by Turkish Airlines.
Capgemini, Saint Gobai, Dassault Systemes, Safran, Veolia, Schneider Electric, Edenred and Thales ended higher by 2 to 4%.
WorldLine ended down 3.6%. Renault drifted lower by 2.8%, while Pernod Ricard, Kering and Engie lost 1.2 to 1.7%.
On the economic front, The UK economy recovered as expected in November underpinned by services and production, the Office for National Statistics said.
Real gross domestic product expanded 0.3% in November, offsetting the 0.3% decrease in October. In the three months to November, GDP dropped 0.2% from the preceding period.
France's inflation accelerated for the first time in four months in December, as initially estimated, provisional data from the statistical office INSEE showed.
The consumer price index posted an annual increase of 3.7% in December, faster than the 3.5% gain in November. That was in line with the flash data published on January 4.
Data showed that core inflation moderated to 3.4% from 3.6%.
Another data from INSEE said France's household spending rose unexpectedly in November amid more energy consumption and engineered goods purchases.
Household consumption grew 0.7% month-on-month in November, in contrast to a 0.9% decrease in October. Meanwhile, economists had expected a 0.1% slight fall.
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