European stocks end week with gains on telecoms, tech boost

European shares closed higher on Friday, marking weekly gains as investors focused on a broadly supportive earnings season and improving economic data in Europe rather than rising U.S.China tensions.

The main indexes spent the morning in the red after U.S. President Donald Trump moved to ban U.S. transactions with the Chinese owners of messaging app WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok, further escalating friction with Beijing. MSCI’s benchmark for global equity markets fell 0.36%. The index for stock performance in 49 countries rose 0.7% for the week and is about 3% away from its record peak set in February.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index, up 0.3%, closed out with weekly gains of 2%. German stocks rose 0.7%, while London's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 were flat, but all logged weekly rises.

Data showed U.S. jobs increased by a better-thanexpected 1.763 million in July, although the pace of recovery slowed amid a resurgence in new coronavirus infections, pressuring the White House and

Congress to agree another aid package.

With the bulk of the European earnings season over, investors were relieved that most companies had exceeded analysts’ much-lowered forecasts for quarterly profits. Refinitiv data showed about 60% of the STOXX companies that have reported so far beat estimates.

The broader telecoms index rose 1% to lead sectoral gains, although stocks considered more sensitive to business cycles, including banks, miners and oil and gas companies, handed back some of this week’s steady gains.

The dollar bounced off twoyear lows and a gauge of global equity markets halted its march toward a record high on Friday, as better-than-expected U.S. jobs growth in July was tempered by the wrangles in Washington over a new stimulus bill.

Big rallies in gold and the euro were also snapped.

Oil prices fell nearly 2%, limiting their weekly gain due to concerns the global recovery could falter from a surge in coronavirus cases. The rise in infections remains the dominant issue for the fuel demand outlook.

This article was compiled by BOV Asset Management Limited, a member of the BOV Group. BOV Asset Management,TG Complex, Suite 2, Level 3, Brewery Str., Mriehel BKR 3000. Email: infoassetmanagement@bov.com Internet address: www.bovassetmanagement.com. BOV Asset Management is licensed by the MFSA.