Europe midday: Shares flat after dovish rate talk sparks rally

European stocks were flat on Friday, as traders and investors digested a raft of interest rate decisions and dovish comments from policy makers which drove new record highs for the benchmark Stoxx index.

The index was at 509.71 with markets mixed. The US Federal Reserve indicated it was still on track for three cuts this year, while the Bank of England held rates steady and also suggested it would cut in the future in inflation was under control and the Swiss National Bank surprised everyone with a reduction.

With little economic or corporate news out there was little to drive sentiment. In Britain retail sales were flat in February as fuel and food saw declines, in part due to the bad weather, according to data released on Friday.

German business sentiment improved in March, according to a survey released on Friday by the Ifo Institute.

The business climate index rose to 87.8 from 85.7 in February, coming in comfortably above consensus expectations of 86.0.

The current situation index increased to 88.1 in March from 86.9 the month before, while the expectations index printed at 87.5, up from 84.4.

The manufacturing gauge improved to -10 from -17.1, while the service sector index rose to 0.3 from -4.0. The index for trade rose to -22.9 in March from 30.8 in February, while the construction gauge was -33.5 versus -35.4.

Ifo Institute president Clemens Fuest said: "The German economy glimpses light on the horizon."

In equity news, Phoenix Group surged more than 10% after releasing results and said it would target $1.77bn in operating cash by 2026.

JD Sports fell on the fall-out from US sporting goods giant Nike warning on 2025 revenue falling.

Darktrace was also down on news that KKR-advised tech fund KKR Dark Aggregator exited its stake in the UK cybersecurity company.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com