European shares close slightly higher as rate outlook stays in focus
European stocks closed slightly higher on Friday. Euro STOXX 50 gained 0.2% to 6,396 and STOXX 600 added 0.2% to 650 as markets weighed how economic activity fares in a higher interest-rate period.
European stocks closed slightly higher on Friday as markets continued to assess how economic activity will fare in a period of higher interest rates.
The Euro STOXX 50 gained 0.2% to 6,396 and the STOXX 600 added 0.2% to 650.
ASML gained more than 3% after a volatile week, tracking AI infrastructure stocks in the United States following promising signals from OpenAI's latest GPT model.
Nokia jumped 3.1% and Nvidia gained 2.6%.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen rose 6.6% after it approved another round of job cuts to reign in spending and adapt to a period of lower auto demand in Germany.
On the other hand, banks were mixed on a volatile day for global bonds.
Bets for a Fed hike were supported by a strong US jobs report, although most sovereign yields in the Eurozone were down on the long end.
BNP Paribas and ING closed in the green, while UniCredit and Santander dropped.
The Euro STOXX 50 lost 1.4% and the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.8% on the week.