European stocks fell on Friday, reversing gains from the previous day, as investors reviewed mixed corporate earnings and awaited updates on EU-US trade talks ahead of President Trump’s tariff deadline next week.
The STOXX 600 index dropped 0.4% to 549.36 points but was still set for small weekly gains. The UK’s FTSE 100 also fell 0.4%, pulling back from its record high on Thursday, while most other European markets were also down.
Investors celebrated trade deals with Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines this week, but hopes for a US-EU agreement remain as talks continue. Financial stocks led the losses, falling 1.3%, while basic resources stocks dropped 0.6%, with Fresnillo down 2.3%.
Among individual companies:
Puma shares plunged 15.1% after cutting its full-year outlook and reporting weak results.
JD Sports fell 1.5%.
Valeo dropped nearly 9% after lowering its sales forecast.
Traton, Volkswagen’s truck unit, fell 4.4% after cutting its full-year outlook.
On the positive side:
Carrefour rose 6% after strong half-year results.
Volkswagen gained 2.7% after the CEO announced plans to speed up cost cuts, recovering from an earlier 2.4% drop due to a revised outlook.
NatWest rose nearly 2% after reporting better-than-expected profits and announcing a £750 million share buyback.
In economic news, German business morale improved in July but less than expected.
On the FX front, the yen strengthened to 147.10 per dollar, heading for a 1% weekly gain, its best since mid-May. A Reuters poll suggests Japan’s central bank may raise rates by 25 basis points this year.
The dollar index fell to 97.448, down 1% for the week, marking its weakest performance in a month. The euro held steady at $1.1754, close to its near four-year high of 1.183 earlier this month, and has risen 13.5% this year.
The Australian dollar climbed to 0.6593, near an eight-month high, boosted by improved risk appetite after recent trade deals.
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