European equities traded with modest gains on Friday as market participants absorbed a fresh batch of corporate reports and a string of economic data, while keeping an eye on rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), Germany's DAX rose 0.2%, France's CAC 40 climbed 0.5% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.4%.
Corporate earnings round-up
The week-long flow of quarterly results drew to a close with several high-profile corporate updates that added nuance to market sentiment.
- Anglo American (LON:AAL) reported a swing to a $3.7 billion loss after taking another substantial writedown on its diamond business. The miner said it was continuing efforts to divest non-core assets and to progress its planned merger with Teck Resources.
- Danone (EPA:DANO) signalled a positive start to 2026 after reporting 2025 sales and cash that outpaced expectations. The French food group cited baby food demand in China and said margin improvement reflected cost reduction measures.
- Sika (SIX:SIKA) recorded a 16% drop in full-year net profit, attributing the decline to a structural pullback in China and a slowdown in U.S. commercial construction activity following a prolonged government shutdown.
- Aston Martin Lagonda (LON:AML) disclosed a fall in full-year wholesale volumes and said it would sell the right to use its name in its Formula One team to an affiliate for £50 million in cash.
- AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved its Calquence product as the first all-oral, fixed-duration regimen for adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma.
Economic data: U.K. retail sales and German producer prices
On the data front, U.K. retail sales delivered a marked upside surprise for January, suggesting consumer spending held up into the start of the new year. The Office for National Statistics reported retail sales rose 1.8% month-on-month in January, following December's 0.4% increase.
On an annual basis, sales were up 4.5% in January, compared with a 1.9% rise in the previous month, which itself was revised down from an earlier estimate of 2.5% annual growth.
German producer prices also surprised to the downside in January, falling 3.0% year-on-year rather than the 2.1% contraction that had been expected.
Investors were also awaiting eurozone PMI updates later in the session, while attention across the Atlantic was set on the scheduled release of the U.S. core personal consumption expenditures index - a gauge of inflation closely monitored by the Federal Reserve.
Separate U.S. data published last week showed the headline consumer price index rose at a cooler-than-expected pace in January, a development that supported market speculation the Fed could move the timing of a new interest rate reduction forward to as soon as June.
Oil stabilises as geopolitical risk persists
Oil prices steadied on Friday and were on track for their first weekly gain in three weeks as mounting U.S.-Iran tensions revived concerns about potential supply disruption in the Middle East.
Brent futures were largely flat at $71.66 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.1% to $66.35 a barrel. Both contracts were trading near their highest levels since early August and were poised to climb more than 6% for the week.
Market unease intensified after U.S. President Donald Trump, on Thursday, warned "really bad things" would happen if Iran does not reach an agreement regarding its nuclear programme within 10-15 days, raising the prospect of military action. Any escalation involving Iran - a major OPEC producer - could jeopardise flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for roughly a fifth of global oil shipments.
Outlook
With corporate earnings largely wrapped up, attention is likely to remain on incoming macro releases and geopolitical developments that could influence energy markets. The mix of company-specific softness in areas such as mining and specialty chemicals, alongside pockets of resilience like consumer demand for food products in China, leaves investors assessing sector-level implications against a backdrop of persistent external risk.