European stocks close higher as Italian, French industrial data surprises
European markets closed higher Friday as data showed French and Italian industry output rebounding more strongly than expected in May.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed up by 0.8%, autos adding 2.3% to lead gains as all sectors except health care advanced into positive territory.
French industry output climbed by 19.6% in May, surpassing economist expectations of a 15.1% rise. France only began lifting its comparatively strict lockdown measures on May 11.
In terms of individual stocks, French telecoms provider SES and British payments tech company Network International both added around 8% and 7% respectively. Carlsberg climbed more than 6% after the Danish brewer signaled that the slump in beer sales across Western Europe is slowing.
At the other end of the European blue chip index, Teamview, a German firm specializing in remote-work software, slumped almost 5%.
