12:15 PM EDT, 07/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets closed lower Friday as the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.85%, the Swiss Market Index declined 0.61%, France's CAC dropped 0.84%, the FTSE in London lost 0.73%, and Germany's DAX slid 1.03%.

Expectations for euro area headline inflation were unchanged at 2.4% in 2024 and 2% in 2025, according to the European Central Bank's Q3 survey of professional forecasters. Inflation expectations for 2026 were revised downward to 1.9% from 2%.

In Germany, producer prices for industrial products in June fell 1.6% from a year earlier, according to the Federal Statistical Office in June 2023. Prices rose 0.2% from May.

In the UK, retail sales volume in June fell an estimated 1.2% on a monthly basis after rising 2.9% in May, according to the Office for National Statistics, as sales volumes declined in most sectors. Sales volumes fell 0.1% in Q2 from Q1.

In corporate news, European automaker Stellantis is recalling about 24,000 Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid minivans globally due to fire risks, multiple media outlets reported Friday, citing Stellantis. The company's shares closed more than 2% lower in Paris.

British pharmaceutical company GSK said the European Medicines Agency accepted for review the marketing authorization application for Blenrep, in combination with bortezomib plus dexamethasone or pomalidomide plus dexamethasone, as a treatment for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority said Friday it ruled British financial institution Nationwide Building Society's acquisition of Virgin Money UK "does not give rise to a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition."

Shares of Sartorius fell 16% in Frankfurt after the pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier reported lower H1 revenue and earnings.