European Equities Close Lower in Friday Trading; EU GDP Grows Slightly in Q2

12:16 PM EDT, 09/05/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed lower in Friday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.21%, Germany's DAX was down 0.75%, the FTSE 100 fell 0.09%, France's CAC declined 0.31%, and the Swiss Market Index was off 0.10%.

Seasonally adjusted Q2 GDP increased 0.1% in the euro area and 0.2% in the EU compared with the previous quarter, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Compared with Q2 of 2024, seasonally adjusted GDP increased 1.5% in the euro area and 1.6% in the EU.

The highest quarterly GDP growth was in Denmark (1.3%), Croatia and Romania (both 1.2%). GDP contraction was reported in Finland (-0.4%), Germany (-0.3%), and Italy (-0.1%).

In the UK, house prices rose for the third straight month in August, increasing 0.3% on a monthly basis and 2.2% from a year earlier to a record high 299,331 British pounds ($405,324), according to the Halifax House Price Index.

"Affordability remains a challenge, but there are signs of improvement. Interest rates have been on a gradual downward path for nearly two years, and many of the most competitive fixed-rate mortgage deals now offer rates below 4%," Amanda Bryden, Halifax's head of mortgages, said in a statement.

And in corporate news, Alphabet's Google has been fined 2.95 billion euros ($3.5 billion) by the European Commission for violating "EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the advertising technology industry."

Google's Global Head of Regulatory Affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland told MT Newswires the company will appeal the decision, saying the Commission is imposing "an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money."

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria said Friday the Spanish National Securities Market Commission has approved its move to acquire Banco Sabadell in a deal valued at 17.40 billion Euros ($20.30 billion) and the take-up period is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8 for Banco Sabadell shareholders to accept its proposal.

The company said the offer involves the exchange of one common share in BBVA plus 0.70 Euros in cash for every 5.5483 Banco Sabadell shares, which would give Banco Sabadell shareholders a stake of 13.6% in BBVA.

Shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria were down 1% in Madrid.

BioNTech and China's Duality Biologics said Friday that their phase 3 trial evaluating trastuzumab pamirtecan in patients with a certain type of breast cancer met its primary endpoint in an interim analysis.

A joint statement said the study, which compared BioNTech's trastuzumab pamirtecan drug candidate with Roche's approved antibody drug-conjugate trastuzumab emtansine, reached its primary endpoint of progression-free survival in an interim analysis.

Shares of the German biotech firm climbed more than 9% higher in Frankfurt.

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