12:05 PM EST, 11/17/2023 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher Friday as The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.99%, the Swiss Market Index gained 0.89%, France's CAC increased 0.91%, the FTSE in London climbed 1.26%, and Germany's DAX closed 0.84% higher.

The euro area annual inflation rate fell to 2.9% in October from 4.3% in September, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. A year earlier, the rate was 10.6%. EU annual inflation fell to 3.6% in October from 4.9% in September and from 11.5% a year earlier.

The lowest annual rates were in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark, while the highest annual rates were in Hungary, Czechia, and Romania. Compared with September, annual inflation fell in 22 EU countries and rose in five.

In the UK, retail sales volumes fell an estimated 0.3% in October from September, when retail sales volumes dropped 1.1% from August, according to the Office for National Statistics. In the three months to October, sales volumes declined 1.1% compared with the previous three months.

In Switzerland, secondary sector production increased 1.6% in Q3 compared with a year earlier, while turnover rose 4.0%, according to provisional data from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.

And in corporate news, financial services stocks rallied to close out the week as Standard Chartered and NatWest Group climbed 4.7% and 3.4% higher respectively on the FTSE, followed by Barclays, which rose 2.7%. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank increased 2.4% and 1.3%, respectively, on the DAX, while Societe Generale and BNP Paribas were up 1.5% and 1.1%, respectively, on the CAC.

Real estate stocks also trended sharply higher in Friday trading as real estate investment trust British Land and home builder Barratt Developments surged 4.5% and 3.2%, respectively, in London. French commercial real estate developer Unibail Rodamco rose 3% in Paris and German real estate firm Vonovia closed % higher in Frankfurt.

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