The main European stock index closed higher on Friday, marking its longest monthly winning streak since 2021, as investors digested corporate earnings and the news that U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated a former Federal Reserve member as head of the central bank.
* The index ended up 0.6% at 611 points, closing January with a 3% gain, its seventh consecutive monthly advance.
* Banks rose 1.7% and led sector gains, with Caixabank adding 6.7% after the Spanish lender announced it expects loan revenues and profits to increase this year and next.
* The Spanish index, which has a heavy weighting in the financial sector, led gains among the main European markets with a 1.7% rise.
* Investors were also relieved by the nomination of former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to head the U.S. central bank when Jerome Powell’s term ends in May. Warsh’s outlook will be closely analyzed in the coming days, at a time when the White House has been pushing for interest rate cuts.
* With the European Central Bank holding firm on its monetary policy, attention is now turning to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook.
* Meanwhile, earnings season was in full swing across Europe.
* Swiss watchmaker Swatch also climbed 13.4% after reporting that its sales grew 4.7% at constant exchange rates in the second half of last year.
* Shares in German sportswear maker Adidas rose 4% after it announced a share buyback worth 1 billion euros (€1,200 million) and reported record sales for 2025.
* However, companies on the STOXX 600 are expected to post an overall 3.9% year-on-year drop in quarterly earnings, as firms grapple with tariff headwinds and the unfavorable strengthening of the euro against the dollar.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant, Avinash P and Johann M Cherian in Bangalore; editing by Janane Venkatraman, Harikrishnan Nair and Louise Heavens. Edited in Spanish by Ricardo Figueroa)