Media stocks push European shares higher as ECB disappoints

European shares inched higher on Friday, pushed up by a rally in media stocks, following a drop after the European Central Bank held out the possibility of more easing and a review of its inflation target, disappointing investors.

Europe’s media sector advanced 1.6% as Vivendi rose 5% after stellar first-half results at its Universal Music Group raised the stakes for the sale of the French media giant’s most-prized asset.

Pearson climbed 6.2% after the education company said it had traded well in the first half of 2019, while satellite operator SES rose 7% on confirming 2019 guidance.

The pan-European stock benchmark index rose 0.2% by 0825 GMT, recovering from its worst session in three weeks. On the week, the index is expected to rise 0.7%, improving from last week’s marginal gains.

ECB President Mario Draghi on Thursday all but pledged to ease policy further and even hinted at a reinterpretation of the bank’s inflation target. This disappointed some investors who had hoped for an immediate easing of interest rates.

The ECB statement dampened investor hopes that immediate central bank action would fend off any slowdown in the global economy, a sentiment that has led European stock indexes to multimonth highs since a steep fall in May.

Investors will now turn to second quarter reading of U.S. economic growth later in the day which comes ahead of a Federal Reserve rate meeting next week when a quarter basis point cut is expected.

Banco Sabadell’s quarterly profit missing estimates sent its shares down -6.0%, pressuring the broader banks index. Bankheavy indices in Spain and Italy underperformed.

The materials sector fell the most, with Anglo American dropping more than 5% after the mining company’s biggest shareholder billionaire Anil Agarwal said he was divesting the nearly 20% stake he had been holding since 2017.