BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed higher on Friday as worries about the outlook for U.S. economic growth eased a bit after upbeat jobless claims data. Optimism about interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, some positive economic data from the European region and a few encouraging earnings reports contributed as well to the fairly firm undertone in European markets.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.57%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.28%, Germany's DAX ended 0.24% up, and France's CAC 40 closed higher by 0.31%. Switzerland's SMI settled 0.33% up.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Spain and Sweden ended higher. Greece edged up marginally.
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Turkiye closed weak.
In the UK market, Easyjet climbed 3.2%. Beazley, JD Sports Fashion, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, United Utilities, Taylor Wimpey, Whitbread, Entain, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Antofagasta, Legal & General, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Howden Joinery, Natwest Group and Unite Group gained 1.3 to 2.5%.
Hargreaves Lansdown gained 2.3%. The investment platform has agreed to a 5.44 billion-pound ($6.94 billion) takeover by a consortium backed by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.
Revolution Bars Group soared 13.5%. The troubled bar firm has secured a High Court's judge approval for its restructuring plan.
Spirax Group ended down 3%. Burberry Group ended lower by 2.25%. Pershing Square Holdings, Endeavour Mining, Centrica, Smith (DS), Melrose Industries, WPP and Unilever closed lower by 1 to 1.7%.
In the German market, Rheinmetall rallied about 5.4%. Vonvoia gained more than 3%. Siemens Healthineers climbed nearly 2%. Deutsche Bank, Sartorius, Covestro, Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Telekom, SAP and Allianz gained 0.8 to 1.5%.
Optics giant Jenoptik surged nearly 10% after boosting sales and profits in the second quarter.
Puma ended down nearly 2%. Bayer, Siemens, Siemens Energy, RWE, BASF and Infineon lsot 0.5 to 1.4%.
In the French market, Accor, AXA, Thales, Veolia, Engie, TotalEnergies, Unibail Rodamco, Hermes International, Sanofi, Saint Gobain, Schneider Electric and Vinci gained 0.5 to 1.5%.
Kering, Stellantis, L'Oreal, Danone, Eurofins Scientific and BNP Paribas closed weak.
On the economic front, Germany's consumer price inflation rises in July, as initially estimated, on higher food and services cost, final data from Destatis revealed.
The consumer price index posted an annual increase of 2.3% in July compared to 2.2% increase in June.
France's unemployment rate dropped in the second quarter, data from the statistical office INSEE showed. The jobless rate fell unexpectedly to 7.3% from 7.5% in the first quarter. The rate was forecast to remain unchanged at 7.5%.
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