Investing.com - European stocks closed higher Friday, as a strong U.S. GDP outweighed disappointing earnings and uncertainty over a potential bailout for Spain persisted.
At the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 gained 0.51%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.69%, while Germany’s DAX 30 climbed 0.44%.
Gross domestic product in the U.S. rose more-than-expected in the last quarter, preliminary official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said that GDP rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.0%, from 1.3% in the preceding quarter.
Analysts had expected U.S. gross domestic product to rise 1.9% in the last quarter. However, weighing on stocks, U.S. UoM consumer sentiment fell more-than-expected last month, preliminary data showed on Friday.
In a report, the University of Michigan said that consumer sentiment fell to a seasonally adjusted 82.6, from 83.1 in the preceding month.
Analysts had expected UoM consumer sentiment to fall to 83.0 last month.
In addition, investors remained cautious clouded amid ongoing uncertainty over when Spain will request a bailout and trigger the European Central Bank's bond-buying programme.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale tumbled 3.15% and 2.81%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank retreated 0.72% and 0.20% respectively.
Peripheral lenders added to losses, as Italian banks Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo dropped 0.97% and 0.55%, while Spain's BBVA and Banco Santander slumped 1.94% and 1.48%.
Meanwhile, Ericsson plumged 4.46% after the world’s largest maker of mobile-phone networks reported third-quarter gross margin, or the percentage of sales remaining after production costs, that slid to 30.4% from 35%, missing the average estimate of 32.2%.
Also on the downside, Publicis, the third-largest advertising company, plummeted 2.78% after reporting third-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates. The company cited a “sudden downturn” in European economies for a slowdown in ad spending.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 eased higher by 0.03%, weighed by heavy losses in mining stocks.
Mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton plunged 2.10% and 1.68% respectively, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys declined 0.74% and 3.12%.
Elsewhere, U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower, as shares in HSBC Holdings dropped 0.68% and Barclays tumbled 1.38%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking plummeted 1.42% and 1.84% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets traded lower weighed by consumer sentiment numbers with the Dow Jones down 0.32%, the S&P 500 off 0.33% and the tech heavy Nasdaq down 0.61%