12:20 PM EDT, 10/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed Friday relatively unchanged as The Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.04%, the Swiss Market Index gained 0.09%, France's CAC was 0.08% lower, the FTSE in London rose 0.25%, and Germany's DAX nudged 0.02% higher.

In Germany, the ifo Business Climate Index, which gauges economic sentiment among German companies, rose to 86.5 points in October from 85.4 points in September. The increase follows four consecutive decreases. According to ifo, German companies are more satisfied with their current situation and expectations are higher; however, they are also skeptical.

In France, household confidence fell, albeit slightly, in October for the first time since April, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. The index that tracks consumer confidence declined to 94 from 95 in September and remains below its long-term average of 100.

And in corporate news, shares of Sanofi closed 2.5% higher in Paris after the French pharmaceutical company reported higher Q3 earnings and revenue that easily beat analyst expectations.

British financial services company NatWest Group reported higher Q3 earnings and revenue that topped analyst forecasts. Shares of NatWest gained 0.60% on the FTSE.

And shares of Italian oil and gas company Eni were up 1.4% in Milan despite reporting lower Q3 earnings and revenue, following a Bloomberg report that private equity firm KKR is tapping around 1.5 billion euros to fund its purchase of a minority stake in Eni's Enilive unit. KKR did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' requests for comment.