European Equities Close Mixed in Friday Trading; French Unemployment Rate Stable

12:12 PM EDT, 08/08/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed mixed in Friday trading as the FTSE 100 in London slid 0.06%, Germany's DAX was unchanged, France's CAC 40 gained 0.44%, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.25% and the Swiss Market Index increased 0.15%.

France's unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.5% in Q2, compared with the previous three-month period, according to the statistics agency Insee.

In corporate news, Munich Re shares lost 7%, becoming the biggest decliner on the DAX after the German reinsurer cut its 2025 insurance revenue outlook to 62 billion euros ($72.30 billion) from its previous guidance of 64 billion euros.

On the FTSE 100, Flutter Entertainment led the decliners, losing around 8% after the sports betting company said it entered into arrangements with Davy Securities to repurchase up to $245 million of ordinary shares from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 on the New York Stock Exchange.

British drugmaker GSK said it will receive $370 million from the mRNA patent settlement deal between German biotech firms CureVac and BioNTech. The payment is related to an existing license agreement with CureVac and GSK said it will also be entitled to a 1% royalty on BioNTech and Pfizer's US sales of influenza, COVID-19 and related combination mRNA vaccine products from the start of 2025.

GSK will also get an additional $130 million in cash and a 1% royalty if BioNTech completes its acquisition of CureVac, which will also settle the companies' mRNA patent litigation outside of the US. The royalty is applicable to BioNTech and Pfizer's future sales outside of the US.

British lender HSBC signed a new 15-year lease for 210,000 square feet at 40 Bank Street in London, according to Canary Wharf Group.

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