BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks steadied on Friday after a bout of selling earlier this week on concerns that U.S. legislation on Hong Kong could increase tensions between the United States and Beijing.
China said both sides still maintain communication channels, helping ease worries over the possible delay of a preliminary trade deal.
Separately, a report from the Wall Street Journal said China's chief trade negotiator has invited his American counterparts to Beijing for a new round of face-to-face talks.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.3 percent at 403.40 after declining for four days in a row. The German DAX was marginally higher and France's CAC 40 index was up 0.1 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up more than 1 percent.
Aryzta shares tumbled 5 percent. The Swiss-Irish baker said its organic revenue fell 2.5 percent during the first quarter of its financial year.
Vonovia was edging higher. The German residential property company said that it currently controls 72.3 percent of the votes in Hembla.
Mining giant Anglo American advanced 1.6 percent, Antofagasta rallied 1.7 percent and Glencore gained 2.5 percent on U.S.-China trade deal hopes.
British property website operator Rightmove gained over 1 percent after announcing the appointment of Andrew Fisher as non-executive Chairman, effective 1 January 2020.
Hochschild Mining fell over 2 percent. The company said it remains firmly on track to meet the company's 2019 output guidance of 457,000 gold equivalent ounces or 37.0 million silver equivalent ounces.
On the data front, investors shrugged off flash data from IHS Markit showing that the euro area private sector remained close to stagnant for a third consecutive month in November.
The composite output index fell unexpectedly to 50.3 in November from 50.6 in October. The reading signaled the second slowest growth across manufacturing and services since the current upturn began in July 2013.
The U.K. services purchasing managers index fell to a 40-month low in November while the manufacturing PMI slipped to a two-month low.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank's ultra-loose monetary policy is supporting the euro area economy and will continue to do so to ensure inflation returns to its target, the new ECB President Christine Lagarde said today.
The ECB's accommodative policy stance has been a key driver of domestic demand during the recovery, and that stance remains in place,' Lagarde said in a speech at the Frankfurt European Banking Congress.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
