12:08 PM EDT, 06/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets closed mostly lower in Friday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.22%, France's CAC lost 0.48%, the FTSE in London fell 0.48%, and Germany's DAX dropped 0.51%, while the Swiss Market Index gained 0.11%.

Seasonally adjusted GDP increased 0.3% in both the euro area and the EU in Q1 compared with the previous quarter, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistical office. Compared with the same quarter last year, seasonally adjusted GDP grew 0.4% in the euro area and 0.5% in the EU.

Malta registered the highest quarterly increase, rising 1.3%, followed by Cyprus and Croatia with 1.2% and 1.0% growth, respectively. At the opposite end, Denmark's GDP decreased 1.8%, while Estonia and the Netherlands' GDP were down 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively. All other EU member countries saw GDP growth during the quarter.

In the UK, the average house price nudged 0.1% lower in May from April to 288,688 British pounds ($367,234), according to the Halifax House Price Index. On an annual basis, house prices were up 1.5%, compared with a 1.1% annual rise in April.

In Germany, price-adjusted production in the manufacturing sector declined 0.1% in April from March, according to preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office.

And in corporate news, Swiss bank UBS' defunct Credit Suisse's Eastern European debt has drawn interest from RBC BlueBay Asset Management, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing RBC BlueBay executive Polina Kurdyavko. Approximately 10 Credit Suisse emerging-market loans come to the market each week, ranging from $20 million to $200 million in size, Bloomberg said, citing Kurdyavko, head of RBC BlueBay's emerging market debt department.

UK banking giant HSBC is facing a lawsuit filed by former trader Yoram Loeb, who alleged retaliation after he warned the management about excessive brokerage fees, Bloomberg reported Friday.