Investing.com - European stock markets ended mixed Friday, helped by gains in the luxury sector as investors digested the latest ECB interest rate cut as well as growth data from China, the world’s second-largest economy.
The DAX index in Germany traded 0.4% higher, the CAC 40 in France gained 0.4%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. dropped 0.3%.
Luxury stocks soar
The European stock markets have been boosted Friday by gains in the broader luxury stocks index after a selloff earlier this week following LVMH's weak third-quarter sales.
The gains in the likes of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (EPA:LVMH), Gucci-owner Kering (LON:0IIH) (EPA:PRTP) and Hermes (EPA:HRMS) resulted in France's main equity index outperforming regional bourses.
This followed the release of gross domestic product data which showed that the Chinese economy grew 4.6% in the third quarter, largely as expected although the economy’s pace of growth remained below Beijing’s annual target.
However, China's central bank also announced funding schemes that will initially pump as much as 800 billion yuan (over $110 billion) into the stock market through newly-created monetary policy tools.
Elsewhere, AB Volvo (OTC:VLVLY) stock rose 3.6% after the Swedish truck maker's positive financial outlook for fiscal year 2025. The automaker’s optimistic projections for North American truck sales stood in contrast to a broader market expectation of weakening European volumes.
Across the pond, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) will be in the spotlight after the streaming giant picked up 5.1 million streaming subscribers in the third quarter, topping expectations by more than 1 million, and said it expected higher customer growth around the holidays when Korean drama "Squid Game" returns. Shares of Netflix surged 10% in U.S. afternoon trading.
ECB cuts interest rates again
The European Central Bank cut interest rates on Thursday by 25 basis points to 3.25%, following on from September’s move - the first back-to-back rate cut since 2011.
Although this reduction was widely expected, the quickening pace of rate cuts points to a worsening economic outlook amid signs that inflation is increasingly under control.
There was some good economic news in Europe Friday, after data showed that UK retail sales rose 0.3% on the month in September, annual growth of 3.9%.
This compares with expectations for a monthly fall of 0.3%, and a year-on-year gain of 3.2%.
Crude on track for weekly losses
Oil prices slipped lower Friday, on track for their biggest weekly loss in more than a month on concerns about demand.
By 1:06PM ET, the Brent contract dropped 1.28% to $73.51 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1.42% lower at $69.67 per barrel.
Both benchmarks settled higher on Thursday for the first time in five sessions after data showed that official US inventories fell last week, but are still set to fall about 6% this week, their biggest weekly decline since Sept. 2.
Both OPEC and the International Energy Agency cut their forecasts for global oil demand earlier this week, adding to ongoing concerns about demand growth, largely centered around China.
Peter Nurse contributed to this report