European shares recover slightly at the end of worst week in two months

Concerns over China-U.S. trade tensions gave European shares their worst week of losses in two months and pulled down U.S. stocks on Friday, overshadowing the lift from higher oil prices and jobs data.

While Europe was higher on the day with a small recovery after three sessions of heavy losses, the trade standoff between Washington and Beijing was still a major lingering worry for investors.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.62 percent, while an index of London’s 100 largest listed companies rose 1.1 percent.

Wall Street losses came after a drop in technology stocks, sparking a reversal from earlier in the day, when stocks were higher on U.S. labor data that showed employers hired fewer workers than expected in November. That supported a view that U.S. growth is moderating and the Federal Reserve may stop raising rates sooner than previously thought.

Oil surged 4 percent after big Middle East producers in OPEC agreed to reduce output to drain global fuel inventories and support the market. U.S. crude oil futures settled at $52.61 per barrel, up $1.12, or 2.18 percent. Brent crude settled at $61.67, up $1.61, or 2.68 percent. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 1.06 percent.

Stock markets around the world tumbled on Thursday after Canadian officials announced the Dec. 1 arrest of the chief financial officer of Chinese smartphone maker Huawei for extradition to the United States. The arrest was seen as an added threat to the resolution of a trade war between the world’s top two economies.

Britain’s top stock index rose on Friday after a tumultuous week during which global stocks sold off and investors in UK stocks fretted about a parliamentary vote on Brexit next Tuesday. Britain’s FTSE 100 rebounded from Thursday’s plunge to gain 1.5 percent. Financials, consumer stocks and oil majors boosted the index.

Investors and analysts remained unconvinced the gains represented a change in sentiment, though.