European shares logged their best day in three weeks on Friday, as upbeat data out of major eurozone economies, as well as positive rhetoric on a US-China trade deal, ended a dour week on a positive note.
The trade sensitive European miners jumped nearly 2 percent, erasing nearly all losses from earlier this week. All but one of the European sub-sectors ended higher.
US President Donald Trump said a trade deal with China is “potentially very close,” and Beijing had earlier said that it wanted to work out an initial agreement with Washington, following reports that a truce could be delayed to 2020.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.44 percent higher at 403.98, but still snapped a six-week winning streak as recent mixed signals on trade clouded the sentiment. It closed down 0.51 percent on the week.
London’s FTSE 100 surged more than 1.22 percent to 7,326.81, a weekly gain of 0. 33percent, after two days of selling, as investors turned cautiously optimistic about a US-China trade deal and exporter stocks rose after the pound weakened on downbeat UK purchasing managers’ indices data.
The main index was powered on its best day since late July by trade-sensitive scrips including HSBC Holdings PLC and miners, and further bolstered by internationally exposed firms such as Unilever and Diageo PLC.
The FTSE 250 rose 0.57 percent to 20,485.81, although gains were capped by data that showed British business this month suffered its deepest downturn since mid-2016 amid uncertainty around the general election and Brexit.
Further keeping gains in check was a 9 percent slide in Hochschild Mining PLC after its output targets for next year disappointed, and an 8 percent drop in thread manufacturer Coats Group PLC after it warned on annual profit.
Hochschild shares endured their worst day since Aug. 2017, while Coats’ shares hit their lowest level in two-and-a-half years.
Despite this, the mid-caps enjoyed their fourth straight week of gains, buoyed in recent sessions by polls that point to a likely Conservative Party victory in the Dec. 12 British election.
A Conservative victory is seen as more likely to see through Brexit and it was this view that led the FTSE 250 to a more than one-year high earlier this week.
The blue-chip bourse recouped all losses from the past two sessions as mild risk appetite returned after a report that Washington may delay tariffs on Chinese imports even if a deal is not signed by a Dec. 15 deadline.
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