The major European markets ended the first trading day of 2026 on a positive note, led by gains in technology, mining and defense stocks. Investors digested regional manufacturing data, and looked ahead to some crucial U.S. economic reports due next week.
Defense stocks gained amid lingering geopolitical tensions and prospects of higher military spending.
The FTSE 100 index of the U.K. market crossed the 10,000 mark for the first ever time, and settled at a record closing high of 9,951.14, up 0.2%. The index touched a new of 10,046.25.
Germany's DAX climbed 0.2%, and France's CAC 40 ended up by 0.56%. The Switzerland market remained shut. The pan European Stoxx 600 closed higher by 0.67%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed with sharp to moderate gains.
Austria and Sweden settled little changed from previous closing levels.
In the UK market, Rolls Royce Holdings rallied 4.1%. Burberry Group, Metlen Energy & Metals and Melrose Industries gained 3.6 to 4%.
Centrica, St. James's Place, Babcock International, SSE, BAE Systems, Airtel Africa, M&G, HSBC Holdings, Croda International, JD Sports Fashion, National Grid, IAG, Standard Chartered, Kingfisher, BP and Mondi moved up 1 to 3%.
Endeavour Mining tumbled nearly 6%. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners closed lower by about 4.1%. The Sage Group, Pearson, Games Workshop, Coca-Cola HBC, Auto Trader Group, Beazley, DCC, Hiscox, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Smith & Nephew, 3i Group, British Land and Intertek Group also declined sharply.
In the German market, MTU Aero Engines surged 4.7%. RWE, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Bayer, Rheinmetall, E.ON, Siemens Energy, Infineon, Porsche Automobil, Infineon, Porsche Automobil Holding, Deutsche Bank, Commerz Bank and Continental closed up by 1.3 to 4%.
Munich RE, SAP, Hannover Rueck, Zalando, Fresenius, Deutsche Boerse, Vonovia, Scout24, Fresenius Medical Care and Siemens Healthineers lost 1 to 4%.
In Paris, STMicroElectronics surged more than 5%. Stellantis, Safran, Renault, Airbus, Thales and Engie gained 2.5 to 4.3%.
ArcelorMittal, TP, Societe Generale, Bouygues, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Veolia Environment, Carrefour and Michelin also ended notably higher.
Dassault Systemes, Bureau Veritas, EssilorLuxottica, Publicis Groupe, Capgemini, Danone and Air Liquide closed down by 1 to 1.7%.
In economic news, data from S&P Global showed the HCOB Germany Manufacturing PMI fell to 47 in December from 48.2 in November and below the preliminary estimate of 47.7, signalling the sharpest contraction in ten months.
Data from S&P Global showed France's HCOB Manufacturing PMI rose to 50.7 in December from 47.8 in November, returning to growth after three months of contraction and marking the best improvement since June 2022.
Meanwhile, the HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing PMI fell to 48.8 in December, below both the preliminary estimate of 49.2 and November's final reading of 49.6, marking the fastest pace of contraction since March.
Data from the Nationwide Building Society showed UK house prices grew at the slowest pace since April 2024 largely due to the high base effects. House prices posted an annual growth of 0.6% in December, which was weaker than the 1.8% rise in November. Prices were expected to climb 1.2%.
On a monthly basis, house prices dropped 0.4%, in contrast to the 0.3% increase seen in November. In the fourth quarter, average house prices grew 0.7% sequentially and advanced 1.7% from the same period last year.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
December 26, 2025 08:42 ET Third quarter economic growth data from some major economies including the U.S. were the main news in this holiday shortened week. GDP growth and industrial production data from the U.S. helped to boost morale, while the consumer confidence survey results were less upbeat. In Europe, the quarterly economic growth data from the U.K. drew attention, while the minutes of the Australian central bank’s latest policy session was in focus in Asia.