Europe close: Indices mostly higher at month's end

(Sharecast News) - European shares were mostly higher on Friday despite US President Donald Trump winning a reprieve against a court ruling blocking his tariff plan. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.14% at 548.67 points in early deals with most major bourses higher too.

France's Cac-40 was the main exception, leaving behind 27.83 points or 0.36% to end at 7,751.89.

"Whereas Asian and US stock indices dipped on the last day of the month while most European markets regained some of Thursday's trade uncertainty induced losses, the month of May showed gains across the board," said Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst at IG.

"Slowing US consumer spending, stable PCE and German inflation data didn't move the dial much as investors look forward to next week's US employment and purchasing managers data which is hoped to provide some clues as to the impact of tariffs on the American economy."



Overnight, a US federal appeals court granted the administration's request to temporarily pause a lower court ruling that struck down most of Trump's tariffs. The original decision to block the measures had boosted share markets on Thursday.

In economic news, German retail sales fell by 1.1% in April compared with the previous month. That compared with an expected 0.2% increase from analysts.

In equity news, M&G jumped after Japan's Dai-ichi Life agreed to take a 15% stake in the investment manager as part of a partnership expected to generate at least $6bn in new business flows into funds managed by M&G over the next five years.