The European stock markets closed lower in Friday trading as The Stoxx Europe dropped 0.78%, Germany's DAX was down 0.27%, the FTSE in London was off 0.26%, France's CAC fell 0.27%, and the Swiss Market Index lost 0.26%.
In the UK, retail sales volume rose an estimated 0.2% in November following a 0.7% decline the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics.
In France, producer prices rose sharply in November, increasing 2.7% after a 0.8% rise in October, and a 0.3% decline in September, according to the Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. Over a year, French industrial producer prices fell for the 17th straight month.
In Italy, the consumer confidence index declined to 96.3 in December from 96.6 the previous month, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics.
And in corporate news, Novo Nordisk said Friday that its experimental obesity therapy, CagriSema, met the primary endpoint in a phase 3 trial, showing superior weight loss compared to a placebo, but the results fell short of its expectations. Shares of the Danish pharmaceutical company tumbled 21% in Copenhagen.
Volkswagen is close to striking a deal with labor leaders as the German automaker continues negotiations over worker compensation, Reuters reported Friday. Shares of Volkswagen closed 1.7% higher on the DAX.
News outlets reported Friday that Swiss lawmakers blamed both regulatory authorities and managers of the former Credit Suisse for the bank's 2023 collapse, which led to a state-backed buyout by UBS. UBS said the report confirms the collapse was due to "years of strategic errors, mismanagement, and reliance on regulatory concessions," adding that it has taken "significant measures" to avoid Credit Suisse's fate, including $20 billion in additional capital.
Rio Tinto investor Palliser Capital said Thursday it submitted a resolution to the British mining company's upcoming annual general meeting for an "independent, comprehensive, and transparent" review on unifying its dual listing into a single Australian-domiciled holding company. Rio Tinto did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' request for comment.
