European Equities Track Lower in Friday Trading; Apple, Meta May Face Lower EU Digital Markets Act Fines

12:18 PM EDT, 03/28/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets were tracking lower in Friday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.69%, Germany's DAX was down 0.79%, the FTSE 100 in London was unchanged, France's CAC 40 declined 0.78%, and the Swiss Market Index was off 0.06%.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is consulting on whether to accept commitments from five airlines to resolve competition concerns over their transatlantic cooperation, the regulator said Friday.

Meanwhile, retail sales volumes in the UK rose an estimated 1.0% in February, according to the Office for National Statistics. This is compared with a 1.4% increase in retail sales volume in January.

In France, the consumer price index in March rose 0.8% from a year earlier, according to provisional estimates from the Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. The prices of services, particularly insurance and food, accelerated, were partially offset by declining prices of energy and manufactured goods. On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased an estimated 0.2%.

In Spain, the annual consumer price index rose 2.3% in March, seven-tenths of a percentage point lower than in February, according to the Spanish Statistical Office. Meanwhile, the annual rate of the leading underlying inflation indicator declined two-tenths of a percentage point to 2.0%.

And in corporate news, Apple and Meta Platforms could be charged with lower fines under the European Union's Digital Markets Act, or DMA, as the European Commission seeks to avoid potential backlash from US President Donald Trump, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The European Commission declined MT Newswires' comment request, while Apple and Meta Platforms did not immediately respond to requests for statements.

Eli Lilly's early Alzheimer's drug, Kisunla, should not be granted marketing authorization, according to a recommendation by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use. Eli Lilly did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

French biopharmaceutical company DBV Technologies late Thursday disclosed financing of up to $306.9 million to fund a peanut allergy patch for children aged four to seven years old. The financing to be received includes gross proceeds of $125.5 million upon closing and up to $181.4 million if all the warrants in the sale are exercised, the company developing the Viaskin peanut patch to treat pediatric peanut allergy said.

PayPal could be subjected to fees by the European Union as part of a tariff dispute with the US, Reuters reported Friday, citing Bernd Lange, head of the European Parliament's international trade committee. PayPal did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' request for comment.

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