European markets closed higher Friday after a reversal of momentum in the previous session.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed around 1% higher, with all sectors and major bourses in positive territory. The gains were led by financial services and mining stocks, which closed up by 1.7% and 1.8% respectively.
Italian insurance and asset management company Generali is the only major corporate due to report results on Friday.
U.K. retail sales figures reflected a 2.7% year-on-year drop, with clothing and household purchases being hit the hardest, according to the Office of National Statistics. Compared to the previous month, retail sales declined by 0.3%, hitting the lowest level since early 2021 and coming in far below expectations.
A final reading of euro zone inflation showed a sharp slowdown, with October's year on year inflation reading coming in at 2.9% compared to 4.3% in September, according to EU statistics office Eurostat.
In the U.S., stocks fell slightly on Friday. Markets have been buoyed by soft readings for October's consumer price index and the producer price index, which boosted hopes that inflation could finally be coming down and staying down — and the U.S. Federal Reserve's tough monetary policy regime could be over.
Meanwhile in Asia, Hong Kong stocks led declines. E-commerce giant Alibaba shares slid following results in which it said it would not proceed with the full spinoff of its cloud group in light of U.S. chip export restrictions.