Geopolitical tensions along with a new wave of earnings report drove the shares from European companies lower on Friday’s session. British financial and banking company declines.
On the contrary, stocks from basic resources were gaining on the prior day, its copper industry were the leading advancers. But, corporate earnings are still the main focus of investors, following the bank releasing new figures. UBS noted that its net income was 79 percent higher in 2017’s first quarter; it gained more than 2 percent in its shares on Friday.
Another bank that posted a surprisingly higher first quarter data is RBS as it gained a profit of £259 million (334.24 million in USD), on the back of it reporting a £968 million worth of net loss last 2016. It finished 4.7 percent higher.
Caixabank announce a growth by 48 percent in Q1 earnings. The shares of this Spanish bank were higher by 3.3 percent.
British banking firm Barclays suggested that its profit for the first quarter was doubled; however it missed out a bond trading. It lost more than 5 percent on Friday’s close.
Meanwhile on indexes, FTSE 100 in United Kingdom was 1.4 percent up and DAX from Germany rose by 3.2 percent. CAC 40 settled last week’s trading session higher by 4.2 percent, after centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron’s triumph on the first round of presidential elections in France.
The European stocks benchmark Stoxx 600 finished 0.18 percent lower and most of its sectors are on the negative territory.
In addition to the earnings news, French pharmaceutical company Sanofi posted a net income increase of 4 percent and 11 percent rise in sales. It settled slightly higher in its shares.