European stocks have second straight weekly decline

During the week the Stoxx Europe 600 Index capped its second straight weekly decline. It fell 1 percent on Friday as declines in auto-related shares and commodity producers dragged European stocks lower as a busy earnings week drew to a close. The gauge fell 0.5 percent in the past five days.

Fund managers poured $3.3 billion in European equity funds in the week ended July 26, the largest inflow in 11 weeks, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch note citing EPFR Global data.

Prime Minister Theresa May is keeping Britain on track for a “hard” Brexit, but she wants the journey away from the European Union to be longer and smoother than initially planned. After weeks of wrangling since her Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority, May’s government still seems determined to leave the single market and customs union that give Britain free, frictionless trade with the bloc.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.6 percent, erasing its gain for the week. Tech shares in the gauge fell 1.5 percent. Japan’s Topix index fell 0.4 percent. Data on Friday showed that while household spending in Japan rose 2.3 percent, its first gain in more than a year, Japan’s key price gauge was unchanged in June.

Most U.S. stocks fell amid disappointing earnings that have rattled technology shares, while the dollar weakened and gold climbed after data showed the American economy expanding at a slower-than-expected pace.

The S&P 500 Index ended the busiest week of earnings virtually unchanged from where it began, while the Nasdaq 100 Index fell in the five days as tech results failed to lift the highflying sector. Chevron Corp. was the latest blue chip to rally on earnings, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a 1.2 percent gain in the week. Oil had its best week this year as signs point to a market that’s achieving a balance between supply and demand.