City workers in the La Defense commercial district on Thursday, October 9, 2025 in Paris, France.
Nathan Lane | Bloomberg | Getty Images
LONDON — European stock markets rose on Friday as international relations and corporate earnings remained in focus.
Pan-European by 12:30 p.m. London (7:30 a.m. ET) Stocks 600 The index rose 0.75%, with most sectors and major stock exchanges in positive territory.
It’s been a busy week for corporate earnings in Europe, with Friday set to be a rather quiet day on the earnings front until another tumultuous corporate report is released next week.
Stock price of German sportswear giant adidas It rose 6% on Friday after the company released an earnings update after the bell on Thursday. Preliminary figures show that constant currency revenue rose 13% in 2025 to a record 24.8 billion euros ($29.6 billion).
Other Spanish caixa bank announced early Friday morning that net profit rose 1.8% to 5.89 billion euros ($7 billion), beating analysts’ expectations of 5.78 billion euros. The dividend increased by 15% to €0.50 per share. The bank touted a “great year” and raised its growth and profitability targets.
The company’s stock price was recently up 6.3%.
President Donald Trump on Friday approved the nomination of former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, who served as the central bank during the 2008 financial crisis, to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chairman.
The decision is the culmination of a process that formally began last summer, but began much earlier, with Trump launching a flurry of criticism of Powell’s Fed since he took office in 2018.
“While (Warsh’s) recent comments support lower interest rates, he has been a hawkish critic of the Fed’s expanded use of its balance sheet in the past,” Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid said of Warsh in a memo Friday morning, before Trump’s nomination was announced.
“This prompted a negative reaction in Treasuries and stock futures overnight. The market’s early reaction is consistent with the view that expectations for Fed asset prices may be weaker under Chairman Warsh than under other candidates.”
Geopolitics remains a focus for European investors. US President Donald Trump warned reporters on Thursday that it would be “very dangerous” for Britain to strike a deal with China. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is currently on a four-day visit to China and hopes to mend relations between London and Beijing.
Separately, Trump said he had persuaded Russian President Vladimir Putin not to attack Ukraine during a week of bitterly cold weather in the country. Therefore, the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine could test Moscow’s commitment to honoring its agreements with the Trump administration.
The White House is also reportedly considering further attacks on Iran, and speculation over President Trump’s next move has caused volatility in oil markets.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. stock futures fell on Friday morning following another negative market on Wall Street.
