Europe close: Investors play it safe ahead of French vote

European shares were mostly lower on Friday as investors played it safe ahead of the first round of the French legislative elections on Sunday.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index dipped 0.23% to 511.42, while France's CAC 40 was down 0.68% at 7,479 as polls continued to show a first-round national election win for the far-right and populist National Rally.

Germany's Dax on the other hand managed to edge up 0.14% to 18,235.45.

Nevertheless, at least from a market perspective, for some observers that was preferable to the alliance of left-wing parties coming out on top.

Meanwhile, inflation eased in two of the eurozone biggest economies in June, preliminary country data showed on Friday

Spain’s National Statistics Institute said the country's CPI printed at 3.4% year-on-year in June, down from May’s one-year high of 3.6% (consensus: 3.3%).

The fall was driven primarily by slowing food and fuel prices, offsetting an increase in the cost of leisure and cultural services as Spain entered its key summer tourist season.

In France, meanwhile, HICP inflation was estimated by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies to have eased to 2.5% from 2.6%.

As with Spain, the decline was led by falling food and energy prices, and was largely in line with forecasts.

In Italy, HICP inflation edged up to 0.9% from 0.8% in May, Italy’s National Institute of Statistics estimated.

In equity news, Nokia was higher by 1.5% after the Finnish telecoms giant said it was buying Infinera Corp in a deal with an enterprise value of $2.3bn.

UK retailer JD Sports was off by 5% after US sportswear giant Nike forecast a surprise drop in 2025 revenue.