European markets closed lower on Friday after global stocks had a rough start to 2025.
The Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.49%, losing most of Thursday’s gains as the sector fell.
Automotive stocks were the worst performers, down 1.79%, while travel and leisure stocks fell 1.62%. One of the few sectors to rise was financial services, with stocks last up 0.4%.
Oil and gas stocks also rose more than 1%, led by gains in Finnish refiner Neste, which rose 4.8% on reports of a string of new aviation fuel contracts.
At the other end of the Stoxx 600 major It fell 3.8% after the Italian automaker announced a 45.7% decline in car production for 2024, the lowest production figure since 1956, according to Reuters.
U.S. stocks opened higher after a choppy start to 2025 that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lose for the fifth straight session.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed overnight, with Chinese markets continuing their decline as investors assessed Beijing’s policy signals, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s stock index were both in positive territory.
On the data front, Türkiye’s consumer price index fell to 44.38% on an annualized basis in December from 47.09% in November. Economists had expected inflation to fall to 45.2%, according to a Reuters poll.
Poland’s consumer price index rose 4.8% on an annualized basis in December, also below Reuters forecasts.
Meanwhile, the German Federal Labor Office announced that the number of unemployed people in December reached 28.07 million, an increase of 33,000 from the previous month. The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percent to 6 percent, the agency added.
