12:21 PM EST, 01/15/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets rose Wednesday as the Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 1.33%, Germany's DAX 40 jumped 1.70%, the FTSE 100 in London advanced 1.21%, France's CAC 40 was up 0.69%, and the Swiss Market Index gained 0.68%.

In Germany, the price-adjusted gross domestic product and calendar-adjusted GDP in 2024 both declined 0.2% from 2023, according to preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office. That marked a second straight annual contraction.

"Economic and structural burdens stood in the way of better economic development in 2024," said Ruth Brand, the president of the statistical office.

In the UK, annual inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, rose 2.5% in December, down from 2.6% from November, according to the Office for National Statistics. On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.3% in December, down from 0.4% a year earlier.

In France, the CPI rose 0.2% in December from the previous month, according to the Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies.

Seasonally adjusted industrial production in November increased 0.2% in the euro area and 0.1% in the EU from October, according to first estimates from Eurostat. Compared with a year earlier, industrial production decreased 1.9% in the euro area and 1.7% in the EU.

In corporate news, Apple and Amazon.com fended off a class action lawsuit in the UK after the country's Competition Appeal Tribunal refused to certify the legal action filed by consumer law scholar Christine Riefa that alleged the companies colluded in 2018.

Dutch semiconductor company NXP Semiconductors got a loan of 1 billion euros ($1.03 billion) from the European Investment Bank to support research, development and innovation investments.

Shell's Nanhai subsidiary's 50-50 joint venture with China National Offshore Oil's CNOOC Petrochemicals Investment plans to invest in the expansion of its petrochemical complex in Daya Bay, China.

Brookfield Asset Management is planning to sell its Livensa Living student housing business in Spain, Bloomberg reported.