European markets rallied on Friday, buoyed by the European Central Bank's meeting minutes from September. Besides, robust economic data from China also contributed to the growth.

At the time of writing, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose by 0.8%, France's CAC 40 advanced 1.36%, Germany's DAX was up 0.92%, and the UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.63%.

Stock Movers

Shares of European oil giants, TotalEnergies and Shell, climbed 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.

British tabletop game manufacturer, Games Workshop, saw its shares skyrocket 12%. The company recently reported a 14% YoY increase in core revenues for Q3, with pre-tax profits soaring 46%. Additionally, Games Workshop declared a dividend of 50 pence per share.

Danish pharmaceutical firm Bavarian Nordic's market capitalization grew by 3.5%.

Shares of the German conglomerate Siemens, operating in electronics and power equipment, rose 2.3%.

Luxury French brands, LVMH and Kering, witnessed their stock prices ascend by 3.6% and 2.8%, respectively.

Italian banking groups BPER Banca, Banco BPM, UniCredit, and Intesa Sanpaolo enjoyed gains of 1.5%, 1.4%, 1.2%, and 1.1% in that order.

Conversely, Italian banks Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and FinecoBank saw a decline in market cap, slipping 0.4% and 0.1% respectively.

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), the Swedish company owning Europe's second-largest clothing store chain, saw its shares slump by 4.6%. The company's Q3 revenues fell short of market expectations.

Market sentiment

The European Central Bank rocked markets late Thursday with their announcement following the recent meeting. The regulator decided to hike all three of its key interest rates by 0.25 percentage points.

Post the September meeting, the ECB has raised the benchmark lending rate to a historic high of 4.5%, the deposit rate to 4%, and the marginal lending rate to 4.75%. Moreover, during the post-meeting speech, ECB representatives hinted that this might be the last rate hike in the current cycle. In addition to the rate changes, macroeconomic forecasts for the eurozone countries were also released.

Today, traders are sifting through data from the eurozone and China. According to a final assessment by France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), the consumer price index for August surged by 5.7% YoY. To put this in perspective, inflation was at 5.1% in July.

On the flip side, data from China's National Bureau of Statistics revealed that industrial production in the country rose by 4.5% YoY in the past month, outperforming July's 3.7% growth. Analysts had only forecasted a 3.9% uptick for August.

Retail sales in China also saw a significant rise, growing by 4.6% YoY in August, a considerable jump from July's 2.5%. Market experts had projected an average increase of just 3%.

In another significant move, the People's Bank of China pumped 591 billion yuan into the nation's financial sector as part of its medium-term lending program. Additionally, news broke out that the regulator slashed the reserve requirement ratio for most banks by 0.25 percentage points. This move is expected to free up more liquidity in the financial system.

A crucial bolstering factor for European equities on Friday was the positivity observed in the U.S. stock market on Thursday. By the end of the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.96%, the S&P 500 grew by 0.84%, and the NASDAQ Composite advanced 0.81%.

Trading recap from yesterday

Leading market indices closed in the green on Thursday. Stocks from the oil refining and raw materials sectors experienced the most significant gains, while automobile manufacturers trailed behind.

Specifically, the aggregate index of the largest European companies, Stoxx Europe 600, soared by 1.52%. France's CAC 40 went up by 1.19%, Germany's DAX jumped by 0.97%, and the UK's FTSE 100 saw a hike of 1.95%.

Shares of German auto giants Volkswagen, Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz dipped by 1.5%, 2.9%, 2.1%, and 1.6% respectively.

Shares of Spain's largest financial group, Banco Santander, declined by 0.9%. This comes after news that its subsidiary, Santander Consumer Bank, is closing branches in Italy due to the surging popularity of digital banking.

Market capitalization of Italian truck manufacturer, Iveco Group, slipped by 0.2% following the announcement that Anna Tanganelli will be appointed as the Chief Financial Officer from December 1st, succeeding Francesco Tanci.

Shares of Dutch investment firm Exor surged by 5.3%. Earlier, the company had approved a €1 billion buyback program. Additionally, Exor's net profit for the first half skyrocketed eight-fold YoY.

Stocks of British mining conglomerate Anglo American rocketed by 7.7%. The world's largest mining company, BHP Group, saw its stocks appreciate by 4.1%, while the market cap of Australian-British conglomerate Rio Tinto grew by 4.7%. Stocks of Swiss raw material supplier Glencore jumped 4.4%. The prime catalyst for the surging stock prices of the above-listed companies was the noticeable spike in the value of solid minerals on global markets, primarily copper.

Shares of European oil corporations British Petroleum, TotalEnergies, and Shell rose by 2.1%, 1.7%, and 2.4% respectively. A prominent surge in global crude oil prices served as a significant tailwind for these companies.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Idorsia Ltd.'s stocks took off, registering a 7.8% gain.

Market capitalization of European online retailer THG Plc plummeted by a staggering 21.3%.

Shares of the German industrial group, Thyssenkrupp, decreased by 1% following news about reorganizing operations in the decarbonization sector.