European stock markets closed mostly lower in Friday trading, as investors digested ongoing events in the Middle East, as well as data showing accelerating GDP growth in the European Union and euro area.
The Stoxx Europe declined 0.3%, the FTSE 100 lost 0.2%, France's CAC edged 0.2% lower, the Swiss Market Index dropped 0.7%, while Germany's DAX rose 0.4%.
GDP growth accelerated in Q2 in the euro area and the EU on both a quarterly and annual basis, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.
Seasonally adjusted GDP grew 0.4% in the euro area and 0.5% in the EU in Q2, compared with the previous quarter. This is an acceleration from Q1, when GDP was flat in the euro area and grew 0.1% in the EU. Compared with a year earlier, seasonally adjusted GDP expanded 1.0% in the euro area and 1.2% in the EU, following growth of 0.5% and 0.8% in the euro area and the EU, respectively in Q1.
In corporate news, Nokia is shutting down its research and development unit in China's Hangzhou, cutting 1,600 jobs, Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported Thursday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The company informed staff that the unit, which develops radio technology, will close by the end of 2026, according to a Google translation of the report.
"Nokia has been taking steps to better align its operations in China with Nokia's global mode of operation. Further, Nokia's business in China has steadily declined over the last several years. Thus, we are adjusting our operational footprint in China to address this reality," a Nokia spokesperson toldin an emailed statement.
Shares of the Finnish telecommunications company fell 1.4% in Helsinki.
Shell has lost a legal battle with environmental activists over an oil exploration campaign off South Africa's Wild Coast, Bloomberg reported Friday. The Constitutional Court ruled that the exploration right cannot be renewed, Bloomberg said.
The report said the five-year legal dispute began in 2021, when activists challenged Shell's planned seismic survey over concerns about community consultation and potential impacts on marine life.
Shell did not immediately respond to' request for comment.
Shares of Shell increased 1.1% in London.
Eni and its partners have submitted an application for an Argentinian liquefied natural gas project to join the so-called Large Investment Incentive Regime, or RIGI, which is designed to promote investments in the South American nation's strategic sectors, Eni said Friday in a statement.
Argentina's majority state-owned oil firm YPF, in partnership with Eni and XRG, the international investment firm owned by Abu Dhabi's petroleum giant ADNOC, plans to tap Vaca Muerta's gas resources and develop an LNG export platform to supply international markets, according to the statement.
The project includes gas transportation and processing facilities in upstream gas production and export infrastructure, as well as two floating liquefied natural gas units with a combined liquefaction capacity of 12 million tonnes per year, Eni said.
Shares of the Italian oil and gas major closed marginally lower in Milan.
BP received an exploration and production license for phase 2 of the Loran offshore gas field in Venezuela's Plataforma Deltana area with an estimated 4 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas resources, the company said Thursday.
BP will operate the development in partnership with XRG, Adnoc's international energy investment company, and UCC Oil and Gas, with each party holding an equal working interest.
BP and Venezuela also signed a memorandum of understanding to assess exploration opportunities and potential future development in the Carupano East Block, the company said.
Shares of BP gained 0.3% in London.