City workers in the La Defense business district of Paris, France, on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.
Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty Images
LONDON — European stocks moved higher on Friday, as international relations and corporate earnings remained in focus.
By 9:08 a.m. in London (4:08 a.m. ET), the pan-European Stoxx 600 was around 0.5% higher, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
It’s been a busy week of corporate earnings in Europe, with Friday slated to be a slightly quieter day on the earnings front before a flurry of companies report again next week.
Shares of German sportswear giant Adidas added 5.7% Friday after the company published an earnings update after the bell on Thursday. The preliminary figures showed currency neutral revenues jumped 13% in 2025 to hit a record 24.8 billion euros ($29.6 billion).
Elsewhere, Spain’s CaixaBank reported early Friday morning that its net profit rose 1.8% to 5.89 billion euros ($7 billion), above the 5.78 billion euros expected by analysts. Dividends jumped 15% to 0.50 euros per share. Touting a “great year,” the bank raised its growth and profitability targets.
Shares of the lender were last 4.4% higher.
Geopolitics remains in focus for European investors. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned it was “very dangerous” for the U.K. to be making deals with China. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is currently on a 4-day visit to China, where he is hoping to reset ties between London and Beijing.
Separately, Trump said he had convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin not to strike Ukraine during a week of fiercely cold temperatures in the country. The Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine could therefore be a test of Moscow’s willingness to abide by agreements made with the Trump administration.
The White House is also reported to be weighing further strikes on Iran, with speculation around Trump’s next move sparking volatility in the oil market.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. stock futures slipped on Friday morning following another negative session on Wall Street. Global investors are anticipating who will be nominated as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, after Trump said he would announce a successor to Jerome Powell on Friday.
Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, who served at the central bank during the 2008 Financial Crisis, is currently the favorite in prediction markets to secure the job.
“While his recent comments have been supportive of lower rates, in the past he’s been hawkishly critical of the Fed’s expansive use of its balance sheet,” Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid said of Warsh in a Friday morning note. “Treasuries and equity futures have reacted negatively in response overnight … the initial market reaction [is] consistent with a view that the Fed put for asset prices could be less strong under Warsh as Chair than under other candidates.”
