BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed on a firm note
on Friday with investors cheering a slew of strong earnings updates from U.S.
big names Alphabet and Microsoft, and a few European companies, and shrugging of
interest rate concerns for now.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.11%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.75%,
Germany's DAX advanced 1.36% and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 0.89%, while
Switzerland's SMI gained 0.74%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed
with sharp to moderate gains.

Austria and Ireland ended weak.

Data from U.S. Commerce Department showed the consumer price index rose by 0.3%
in March. The report said the annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated
to 2.7% in March from 2.5% in February. Economists had expected the pace of
growth to tick up to 2.6%.

The annual rate of growth by core consumer prices in March came in unchanged
from February at 2.8%, while economists had expected the pace of growth to slow
to 2.6%.

The readings on inflation, which are said to be preferred by the Federal
Reserve, were included in the Commerce Department's report on personal income
and spending in the month of March.

In European economic news, data from INSEE said France's consumer sentiment
index dropped to 90 in April from 91 in the previous month. The index was
expected to rise to 92.

British consumer sentiment improved in April on slowing inflation as well as
expectations about further tax cuts, a monthly survey conducted by the market
research group GfK revealed Friday. The consumer confidence index rose to -19 in
April from -21 in March. The score was also better than economists' forecast of
-20.

In the UK market, Natwest Group rallied more than 6%. The lender reported a
slightly smaller-than-expected fall in income and profit for its first quarter.

Ashtead Group climbed nearly 6%. Rolls-Royce Holdings, ICG, RS Group, St.
James's Place, JD Sports Fashion, Anglo American Plc and Hikma Pharmaceuticals
gained 3 to 4%.

Persimmon, F&C Investment, Melrose Industries, Pershing Square Holdings, Land
Securities Group, Weir Group, Taylor Wimpey, Lloyds Banking Group and WPP surged
2 to 3%.

Convatec Group tumbled about 6.5%. Beazley and Entain both lost about 3.1%.
Ocado Group and Associated British Foods ended lower by 2.5% and 1.9%,
respectively.

In Germany, Siemens Energy rallied more than 5%. Puma, Sartorius, Vonovia,
Qiagen, Daimler Truck Holding, SAP, HeidelbergCement, Siemens, Deutsche Post,
Bayer and Rheinmetall gained 2 to 4.3%.

Porsche, Adidas, MTU Aero Engines, Merck, Zaland, Merceds-Benz, BMW, Infineon,
Volkswagen, RWE and Siemens Healthineers also posted strong gains.

Shares of food deliver giant Delivery Hero tanked 16% on concerns the Chinese
food delivery giant Meituan's reported move to hire staff in Saudi Arabia, might
hurt the German firm's operations in the country.

BASF, Munich RE and Fresenius Medical Care declined sharply. Deutsche Bank and
Brenntag also closed weak.

In the French market, Saint Gobain surged more than 6% after the company's
first-quarter revenue topped forecasts.

Kering, Schneider Electric, WorldLine, Hermes International, Legrand,
TotalEnergies, Publicis Groupe and Carrefour gained 2 to 3.1%.

LVMH, Dassault Systemes, Stellantis, Thales, Bouygues, Teleperformance and
Renault also ended notably higher.

BNP Paribas, STMicroElectronics, Danone and Eurofins Scientific ended lower by
1.3 to 2.4%.



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