European Shares Subdued On Greenland Concerns

(RTTNews) - European stocks were flat to slightly lower on Friday as investors monitored ongoing geopolitical events and earnings news.

Greenland worries returned to the fore, with media reports suggesting that European troops are landing in the country to defend it against real U.S. military threat.

The deployment of troops from several European countries and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies was announced after high-level negotiations between Denmark and U.S. officials ended in stalemate on Thursday. In economic news, data released earlier today showed Germany's harmonized inflation eased to the 2 percent target towards the end of the year.

The harmonized index of consumer prices rose 2.0 percent on a yearly basis in December, following a 2.6 percent gain in the previous month, according to final data from Destatis. The statistical office confirmed the December rate published on January 6.

Likewise, consumer price inflation weakened to 1.8 percent from 2.3 percent in each of the previous two months. The latest inflation rate was the slowest since September 2024 and also matched the provisional estimate.

The pan European Stoxx 600 was down 0.1 percent at 613.84 after rising half a percent on Thursday.

The German DAX, France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were down between 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent.

Gold miner Fresnillo fell about 1 percent as easing geopolitical tensions weighed on gold prices.

Lender HSBC dropped half a percent after launching a review of its insurance arm in Singapore.

Kloeckner & Co shares soared 27 percent after Worthington Steel announced that it would buy the German stee processor in a deal valued at $2.4 billion.