Paris stocks hit record thanks to luxury

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Europe's main stock markets shot higher Friday, with Paris closing at a record as shares in LVMH surged on record annual profits at the French luxury group.

Wall Street stocks finished mixed at the end of a meandering session. The Dow eked out a fresh record, but the S&P 500 dropped after notching four straight records.

"European indices are on the rise, as stronger commodity and banking stocks help the FTSE 100, and French luxury retailers basked in the glow of a 10-percent (plus) gain for LVMH," noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

The world's largest luxury goods group soared 2.3 percent, with the Paris CAC 40 closing above 7,600 points for the first time, thanks to the rise in LVMH shares.

The group's results were lifted by the continued strength of its fashion brands, which include Louis Vuitton, Dior, Celine, and Fendi.

Besides clothing and leather goods, LVMH also posted sales growth in perfumes, cosmetics, watches, and jewelry, with wines and spirits being the only unit to shrink, down 4 percent for the full year.

Frankfurt rose only slightly Friday after a survey showed consumer sentiment had soured at the start of the year in Germany, Europe's biggest economy.

In the United States, the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation -- the personal consumption expenditures index -- held steady last month at 2.6 percent on a headline bases, in line with expectations.

The core PCE Price Index -- which excludes volatile energy and food prices -- fell to 2.9 percent from 3.2 percent in November.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare noted that the inflation figure was the lowest since March 2021.

"The key takeaway from the report should be more Goldilocks than anything else: consumer spending is strong and core inflation, which the Fed is targeting, is moving toward the two percent target," he said.

Analysts are looking ahead to a busy period next week that includes a Fed meeting and earnings from Amazon, Microsoft and other large technology companies.

- Key figures around 1630 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 38,109.43 (close)

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,890.97 (close)

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 15,455.36 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 2.3 percent at 7,634.14 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.4 percent at 7,635.09 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 16,961.39 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.2 percent at 4,635.47 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.3 percent at 35,751.07 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.6 percent at 15,952.23 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 2,910.22 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0858 from $1.0846 on Thursday