Stocks await reaction to German elections after mixed Friday

European stock markets ended the week with an uncertain position. Portugal recorded gains, while Germany saw a contraction in the last week before Germans went to the polls.

The Lisbon stock exchange closed Friday's session with the PSI index rising slightly, 0.38%, to 6,710 points. Among the listed companies that rose the most, the leader was CTT, whose shares reached 6.97 euros, which represents an increase of 2.80%.

This was followed by increases of 1.63% to 0.5498 euros at BCP, 1.49% to 0.952 euros at Sonae and 1.47% to 3.79 euros at NOS.

In the opposite direction, Corticeira Amorim was the protagonist of the most significant variation, falling more than 3.55% to 8.15 euros per share. It was followed by Galp, penalized by the fall of almost 2% in crude oil barrel futures, which pushed the energy company to a slide of 1.28%, to 15.05 euros.

Abroad, there was no clear sentiment, although the trend was mostly positive, with the Euro Stoxx 50 aggregate index adding 0.32%. Among the most important European markets, there were gains of 0.55% in Italy, 0.39% in France and 0.04% in the United Kingdom.

In the 'red', Spain contracted 0.18% and Germany registered losses of 0.19%, in the last session before the legislative elections. The Germans voted on Sunday and the results will influence market sentiment during this Monday.

The new week begins with confirmation of inflation data in the eurozone for January. A year-on-year increase of 2.5% (the same as in December) and a monthly decline of 0.3% (compared to a rise of 0.4% in December) are expected.

In any case, the big highlight of the week is scheduled for Wednesday. After Wall Street closes, tech giant Nvidia presents its fourth-quarter results.