BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks rose on Friday after falling the previous day on disappointment over the ECB's less dovish stance.
The European Central Bank unexpectedly held rates steady and noted that the risk of recession was relatively low. Comments from ECB Mario Draghi were less dovish than expected.
The focus now shifts to U.S. GDP data due tonight and a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting next week as investors pare back their aggressive rate cut expectations.
Meanwhile, top Trump administration officials will travel to China next week for the first high-level, in-person trade negotiating session since talks on the dispute collapsed in May.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.3 percent at 390.59 after declining 0.6 percent in the previous session.
The German DAX was moving up 0.4 percent, while France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were up around half a percent.
Swiss food giant Nestlé advanced 2.3 percent after confirming its 2019 guidance.
Italian oil and gas company Eni fell nearly 1 percent after reporting a 27 percent drop in second-quarter earnings.
Shares of Vivendi jumped 6 percent in Paris after the mass media conglomerate posted strong first-half results and said it had selected banks to advice on the sale of a minority stake in Universal Music Group.
Energy group EDF rallied 2 percent after reiterating its 2019 targets for Ebitda, cost cuts and cash flow.
Education publisher Pearson jumped 5.8 percent in London after it reported a jump in adjusted operating profit and raised its earnings per share target for the year.
Vodafone shares soared 9 percent. The telecommunications conglomerate said it would move its mobile mast operations in 10 European markets into a new company that it potentially could list.
Material stocks fell, with Anglo American tumbling nearly 5 percent after Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal said he plans to exit his stake in the diversified mining company.
Mothercare plunged 10 percent. The children's goods chain has warned on profits as it grapples with an uncertain and volatile home market along with fragile consumer confidence.
In economic releases, France's consumer confidence rose to the highest level in one-and-a-half years in July, survey data from INSEE showed. The consumer confidence rose to 102 in July from 101 in June. Economists had forecast a score of 101.
Eurozone inflation expectations continued to weaken into the third quarter amid lingering high level of uncertainties and downside risks, the results of a key survey by the European Central Bank revealed.
The results support the easing bias adopted by the central bank on Thursday as it signaled an interest rate cut as early as September, further alterations to forward guidance and possibly a stimulus package that could include a tiering system for deposit rates and a fresh round of asset purchases.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
