France stocks higher at close of trade; CAC 40 up 0.59%

Investing.com - European stock markets closed in a mixed fashion Tuesday, as investors digested key eurozone inflation data as well as more corporate earnings.

At 11:15 ET (16:15 GMT), the DAX index in Germany and the CAC 40 in France gained 0.6%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.2%.

Eurozone consumer inflation edges higher

The eurozone consumer inflation index for December came in largely as expected, rising 2.4% in December on an annual basis, gaining from 2.2% in November.

This is the last piece of inflation data before the European Central Bank's next meeting on Jan. 30, with investors currently looking for the ECB to ease interest rates by around 100 basis points in the first half of 2025.

Next lifts full-year guidance

In corporate news, Next PLC (LON:NXT) stock rose almost 4% after the UK clothing retailer raised its full-year profit guidance, expecting to generate a £1 billion profit for the first time this year, seeing unexpectedly strong overseas sales over the festive period.

Volvo (OTC:VLVLY) Car (ST:VOLCARb) stock soared 9% despite posting a 3% drop in overall sales in December, as the number of electrified cars, including fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, rose by 20% year on year in December.

French food caterer Sodexo (EPA:EXHO) stock fell over 7.5% after the French food caterer reported a near 5% rise in its first-quarter organic revenue, missing market expectations, as robust growth in India, Brazil and Australia was offset by decreased activity in Continental Europe.

Crude slips lower

Oil prices rose Tuesday, continuing last week's optimism of more policy support to revive economic growth in China, the world’s largest crude importer.

By 11:15 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) climbed over 1% to $74.3 a barrel, while the Brent also rose over 1% to $77.07 a barrel.

Both benchmarks slid on Monday, after rising for five days in a row last week to settle at their highest levels since October on Friday.

Investing.com - European stock markets closed in a mixed fashion Tuesday, as investors digested key eurozone inflation data as well as more corporate earnings.

At 11:15 ET (16:15 GMT), the DAX index in Germany and the CAC 40 in France gained 0.6%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.2%.

Eurozone consumer inflation edges higher

The eurozone consumer inflation index for December came in largely as expected, rising 2.4% in December on an annual basis, gaining from 2.2% in November.

This is the last piece of inflation data before the European Central Bank's next meeting on Jan. 30, with investors currently looking for the ECB to ease interest rates by around 100 basis points in the first half of 2025.

Next lifts full-year guidance

In corporate news, Next PLC (LON:NXT) stock rose almost 4% after the UK clothing retailer raised its full-year profit guidance, expecting to generate a £1 billion profit for the first time this year, seeing unexpectedly strong overseas sales over the festive period.

Volvo (OTC:VLVLY) Car (ST:VOLCARb) stock soared 9% despite posting a 3% drop in overall sales in December, as the number of electrified cars, including fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, rose by 20% year on year in December.

French food caterer Sodexo (EPA:EXHO) stock fell over 7.5% after the French food caterer reported a near 5% rise in its first-quarter organic revenue, missing market expectations, as robust growth in India, Brazil and Australia was offset by decreased activity in Continental Europe.

Crude slips lower

Oil prices rose Tuesday, continuing last week's optimism of more policy support to revive economic growth in China, the world’s largest crude importer.

By 11:15 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) climbed over 1% to $74.3 a barrel, while the Brent also rose over 1% to $77.07 a barrel.

Both benchmarks slid on Monday, after rising for five days in a row last week to settle at their highest levels since October on Friday.

Investing.com - European stock markets traded in a mixed fashion Tuesday, as investors digested key eurozone inflation data as well as more corporate earnings.

At 07:10 ET (12:10 GMT), the DAX index in Germany climbed 0.3% and the CAC 40 in France gained 0.6%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.4%.

Eurozone consumer inflation edges higher

The eurozone consumer inflation index for December came in largely as expected, rising 2.4% in December on an annual basis, gaining from 2.2% in November.

This is the last piece of inflation data before the European Central Bank's next meeting on Jan. 30, with investors currently looking for the ECB to ease interest rates by around 100 basis points in the first half of 2025.

Next lifts full-year guidance

In corporate news, Next PLC (LON:NXT) stock rose almost 4% after the UK clothing retailer raised its full-year profit guidance, expecting to generate a £1 billion profit for the first time this year, seeing unexpectedly strong overseas sales over the festive period.

Volvo (OTC:VLVLY) Car (ST:VOLCARb) stock soared 8% despite posting a 3% drop in overall sales in December, as the number of electrified cars, including fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, rose by 20% year on year in December.

French food caterer Sodexo (EPA:EXHO) stock fell over 8% after the French food caterer reported a near 5% rise in its first-quarter organic revenue, missing market expectations, as robust growth in India, Brazil and Australia was offset by decreased activity in Continental Europe.

Crude slips lower

Oil prices rosel Tuesday, continuing last week's optimism of more policy support to revive economic growth in China, the world’s largest crude importer.

By 07:10 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) climbed 0.7% to $74.13 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.8% to $76.94 a barrel.

Both benchmarks slid on Monday, after rising for five days in a row last week to settle at their highest levels since October on Friday.

Investing.com - European stock markets fell Tuesday, handing back some of the previous session’s healthy gains ahead of the release of key eurozone inflation data.

At 03:10 ET (08:10 GMT), the DAX index in Germany dropped 0.1%, the CAC 40 in France slipped 0.3% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.7%.

The major bourses across Europe posted strong gains on Monday, with France's CAC 40 up 2.2% and Germany's DAX 1.5% higher, helped by hefty gains in the auto sector.

This followed a press report that US President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plan may not be as extreme as feared. However, sentiment has since been hit by Trump’s rebuttal of the report in a social media post.

Eurozone consumer inflation due

Attention turns Tuesday to the release of the latest inflation data out of the eurozone - the last data on regional prices before the European Central Bank's next meeting on Jan. 30.

Investors are currently looking for the ECB to ease interest rates by around 100 basis points in the first half of 2025, and any signs that inflation is easing further would give the ECB scope to loosen policy more to support a struggling economy.

However, data released already from Spain and Germany showed faster-than-expected pickups in inflation, suggesting any surprise in the eurozone data could be on the upside.

The eurozone consumer inflation index for December is expected to have risen 2.4% in December on an annual basis, speeding up from 2.2% in November.

Next lifts full-year guidance

In corporate news, Next PLC (LON:NXT) stock rose 3.5% after the UK clothing retailer raised its full-year profit guidance, expecting to generate a £1 billion profit for the first time this year, seeing unexpectedly strong overseas sales over the festive period.

French food caterer Sodexo (EPA:EXHO) stock fell over 6% after the French food caterer reported a near 5% rise in its first-quarter organic revenue, missing market expectations, as robust growth in India, Brazil and Australia was offset by decreased activity in Continental Europe.

Crude slips lower

Oil prices fell Tuesday, continuing to hand back the gains generated last week on optimism of more policy support to revive economic growth in China, the world’s largest crude importer.

By 03:10 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) dropped 0.4% to $73.27 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.3% to $76.04 a barrel.

Both benchmarks slid on Monday, after rising for five days in a row last week to settle at their highest levels since October on Friday.

However, losses are likely to be limited given ongoing concerns over tightening Russian and Iranian supply amid sanctions.

Investing.com – France stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Goods and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 2.24%, while the SBF 120 index climbed 2.19%.

The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were STMicroelectronics NV (EPA:STMPA), which rose 7.86% or 1.85 points to trade at 25.33 at the close. Meanwhile, Dassault Systemes SE (EPA:DAST) added 5.29% or 1.72 points to end at 34.24 and Schneider Electric SE (EPA:SCHN) was up 4.56% or 10.95 points to 251.15 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Publicis Groupe SA (EPA:PUBP), which fell 0.65% or 0.65 points to trade at 99.80 at the close. Danone SA (EPA:DANO) declined 0.31% or 0.20 points to end at 64.54 and Orange SA (EPA:ORAN) was down 0.19% or 0.02 points to 9.62.

The top performers on the SBF 120 were Imerys SA (EPA:IMTP) which rose 10.74% to 30.32, STMicroelectronics NV (EPA:STMPA) which was up 7.86% to settle at 25.33 and Soitec SA (EPA:SOIT) which gained 7.46% to close at 89.35.

The worst performers were Clariane SE (EPA:CLARI) which was down 3.36% to 2.07 in late trade, Gaztransport et Technigaz SA (EPA:GTT) which lost 1.79% to settle at 137.00 and Viridien SA (EPA:VIRI) which was down 0.88% to 54.93 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 344 to 157 and 93 ended unchanged.

The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was unchanged 0.00% to 18.96 a new 52-week high.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.10% or 2.59 to $2,652.11 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.16% or 0.12 to hit $74.08 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.24% or 0.18 to trade at $76.69 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.80% to 1.04, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.01% to 0.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.65% at 108.09.

Investing.com -- European stock markets closed higher Monday, boosted by a modest recovery in the region's services industry ahead of the release of key US employment data.

At 11:45 ET (16:45 GMT), Germany’s DAX climbed 1.6%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 2%, while the UK’s FTSE 100 gained just 0.3%.

Eurozone services activity recovers

Overall activity in the eurozone economy contracted for a second straight month in December, but the data offered some good news as there was a modest recovery in the services industry.

HCOB's final composite Purchasing Managers' Index for the bloc, compiled by S&P Global and seen as a good gauge of overall economic health, rose to 49.6 in December from November's 48.3.

The headline index was boosted by the bloc's dominant services sector, whose PMI bounced back above breakeven to 51.6 from November's 49.5, but was weighed down by a sharper decline in factory activity.

That said, investor morale in the eurozone fell in January to its lowest in more than a year, a survey showed on Monday, with Germany remaining a continued drag on the bloc.

The Sentix index for the eurozone dropped to -17.7 in January, the lowest level since November 2023, from -17.5 in December.

Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) and Xpeng deepen EV collaboration

Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG) stock rose over 3.6% after the German auto giant and China’s Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV) announced plans to strengthen their partnership to create one of the largest super-fast EV charging networks in China.

The automakers currently offer a combined 20,000 charging stations across 420 cities, which will now be accessible to customers of both brands.

Going forward, the two companies are exploring opportunities to establish co-branded super-fast charging stations, underscoring their commitment to expanding EV infrastructure in the world's largest auto market.

Oil prices edge higher

Oil prices edged higher Monday, with traders bracing for economic updates from the US, including Federal Reserve guidance and payroll data expected later in the week.

By 11:45 ET, Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to $76.83 per barrel, while WTI crude futures climbed 0.4% to $74.25 a barrel.

(Navamya Acharya contributed to this article.)