12:20 PM EDT, 06/27/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher in Friday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.09%, Germany's DAX advanced 1.48%, the FTSE 100 was up 0.72%, France's CAC 40 gained 1.78%, and the Swiss Market Index increased 0.84%.

In France, annual inflation is expected to increase 0.9% in June after rising 0.7% in May, according to provisional estimates from the Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. The INSEE attributed the increase to accelerating services prices, particularly for accommodation, health and transport, as well as a decelerating decline in energy prices.

In Spain, annual inflation rose 2.2% in June compared with 2.0% in May, according to the flash estimate from the Spanish Statistical Institute. On a monthly basis inflation rose 0.6%, compared with 0.1% in May,

And in corporate news, Unilever will be paying $1.5 billion to acquire men's grooming brand Dr. Squatch, the Financial Times reported Thursday. The deal, which was announced on Monday, is expected to close later this year.

Unilever said in a statement e-mailed to MT Newswires that it is not disclosing the terms of the deal.

Shares of Unilever were up 1% in London trading.

Banco Santander and Barclays are the final bidders for Banco Sabadell's UK unit TSB, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Sabadell is expected to choose one of the offers, which were due Friday, and begin talks for a potential sale, the sources told Bloomberg.

Santander, Barclays, and Sabadell did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MT Newswires.

Shares of Santander and Barclays gained 2.2% each on the Madrid Stock Exchange and the FTSE 100, respectively, while Sabadell's stock added 1.9% in Madrid.

Apple and Alphabet's Google were cautioned by a German privacy regulator over the availability of the DeepSeek app on their respective app stores, saying the Chinese artificial intelligence service constitutes "illegal content."

TotalEnergies said Friday it signed a deal to acquire a 25% stake in the Block 53 energy exploration block offshore Suriname from Moeve. APA operates the block with a 45% interest, while Petronas owns the remaining 30% stake, TotalEnergies said.

Shares of TotalEnergies were fractionally higher in Paris.