Europe close: Stocks mostly lower at week's end
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Friday 07 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - European stocks were mostly lower on Friday as investors continued to digest the latest seesawing from Donald Trump on trade tariffs, and despite an in-line reading on the US jobs market.
The Stoxx 600 was down 0.46% to 553.35, but the German Dax gave back 1.75% after hitting a record high during the previous session to see the day out from 23,008.94.
Spain's Ibex 35 on the other hand managed to eke out a gain of 0.17% to 13,257.10.
Brent crude oil, the euro and 10-year German Bund yields were all higher.
On Thursday, Trump delayed his proposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada that comply with the USMCA trade agreement. The suspension, which was announced a mere two days after the levies first came into force, will run until 2 April.
Come Friday however and the US President selected a batch of additional Canadian goods that would be subject to levies.
There was some goods news on the US jobs front nonetheless, as the Department of Labor reported a 151,000 person gain in non-farm payrolls for the month of February (consensus: 158,000).
Markets were also digesting the latest economic data in Europe, which showed that German factory orders fell sharply in January. Orders fell a larger-than-expected 7% from the previous month, with the federal statistics office citing a "significant" decline in orders for machines and vehicles such as ships and aircraft.
Meanwhile, eurozone GDP expanded by 0.2% over the final three months of 2024, slowing from the 0.4% growth registered in the third quarter but ahead of the 0.1% expansion first reported last month. That was the second upwards revision to fourth-quarter data after figures released in January initially claimed that the euro area economy had stalled.
In corporate news, Elia Group surged 17% as the Belgian electricity generator and distributor released annual results and announced a €2.2bn equity package. The company beat forecasts with its 2024 figures and also impressed with its 2025 guidance.
Green energy companies were among Friday's biggest fallers, including Siemens Energy and Vestas Wind Systems, along with industrial peers Hochtief, Alstom and SFS Group.
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