European stocks rose on Friday and were on track for their seventh straight week of gains amid bets that the economic recovery can weather elevated inflation and the potential return of full lockdowns as a brutal fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across Europe.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said today that inflation in the euro zone will fade over the medium term and it doesn’t make sense to react by tightening policy.
The pan European Stoxx 600 rose 0.4 percent to 489.69 after declining half a percent on Thursday. The German DAX edged up 0.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 index gained half a percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1 percent.
Higher commodity prices helped lift miners, with Anglo American and Antofagasta rising about 3 percent each.
Halma, a global group of safety equipment companies, gained 1.3 percent after it acquired Infinite Leap, Inc., an American firm, for its Medical sector business, CenTrak.
Discount carrier Ryanair Holdings fell more than 1 percent after saying it will drop its London Stock Exchange listing. The last day of trading of the shares on the London Stock Exchange would be 17 December 2021.
Home improvement retailer Kingfisher slumped 5 percent amid concerns over a lack of visibility on the outlook for the 2022-23 year.
French luxury group Hermes jumped 4.4 percent to a record high after reports that it may be added to the Eurostoxx 50 index during a December review.
In economic releases, U.K. retail sales advanced 0.8 percent month-on-month in October, after staying flat in September, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Economists had forecast a monthly growth of 0.5 percent. This was the first increase since May.
Separate data showed that U.K. budget deficit exceeded expectations and also marked the second-highest October borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.
German producer prices increased 18.4 percent year-on-year in October, following a 14.2 percent rise in September, data released by Destatis revealed. Prices were expected to gain 16.2 percent.
This was the highest growth since November 1951, when prices surged 20.6 percent.
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