European shares poised for sixth weekly gain, aided by trade optimism

This post was originally published on this site

https://i-invdn-com.akamaized.net/trkd-images/LYNXMPEFAE0L7_L.jpg

(Reuters) – European shares were on course for a sixth straight weekly gain on Friday, following a record close on Wall Street as bullish comments from a White House official on a U.S.-China trade deal boosted trade-sensitive miners, technology stocks and automakers.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index () gained 0.4% by 0819 GMT, inching back to a four-year high hit last week.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said late on Thursday Washington and Beijing were getting close to a trade agreement, citing what he called very constructive talks with Beijing about ending a 16-month trade war.

Miners () were the top gainers on the day, up about 1.5%, followed by technology stocks ().

Shares in chipmakers Infineon (DE:), STMicroelectronics (BN:) and ASML Holding (AS:) rose between 0.8% and 1%, after industry bellwether Applied Materials (O:) forecast a strong first quarter ahead of the 5G rollout in key markets.

Telecom shares () were boosted by a 2.5% gain in Orange (PA:) after France’s biggest telecoms operator said it was preparing to split its mobile towers unit into a separate company.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.