12:25 PM EDT, 09/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher in Friday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.72%, the Swiss Market Index rose 0.46%, France's CAC increased 0.41%, the FTSE in London was up 0.39%, and Germany's DAX closed 0.92% higher.

Seasonally adjusted industrial production declined 0.3% in the euro area and 0.1% in the European Union in July from June, according to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. Compared with a year earlier, industrial production dropped 2.2% in the euro area and 1.7% in the EU.

Eurostat also reported that the job vacancy rate in Q2 was 2.6% in the euro area, down from 2.9% in Q1, and from 3.1% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the job vacancy rate in the EU was 2.4% in Q2, down from 2.6% in Q1 and from 2.9% in Q2 of 2023.

In France, the consumer price index rose 0.5% in August from July, according to the Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, attributable mainly to a rebound in manufactured product prices. Compared with a year earlier, consumer prices increased 1.8% in August after rising 2.3% in July.

And in corporate news, HSBC is discussing the potential sale of its South African corporate banking unit to FirstRand's Rand Merchant Bank, Bloomberg News reported Friday. HSBC was up 0.5% in London.

Spanish biopharmaceutical company Grifols is looking to hire a consultancy firm to help manage minority investors amid a takeover approach, Bloomberg reported Friday. Grifols was up 2% in Madrid.

GSK said Friday that its blood cancer drug Blenrep was granted breakthrough therapy designation in China by National Medical Products Administration. GSK was down 0.3% in London.

Danish pharmaceutical company Ascendis Pharma said Friday that initial results from a certain group of patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer showed "signs of clinical activity" in a phase 1/2 trial of the TransCon IL-2 beta/gamma drug in combination with chemotherapy.