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A man wearing a protective face mask walks in an arcade of the Palais Royal in Paris, France, 20 August 2020.
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European stocks rose on Friday, as investors shook off sluggish economic data and after U.S. tech stocks marched to another record high.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.31% rose 0.3% to 366.84, following a 1% drop in the prior session, triggered by a gloomy economic view from the Federal Reserve and mixed U.S. data. The index was set for a weekly loss of 0.3%, as of Thursday.
The German DAX DAX, +0.27% rose 0.4% and the French CAC 40 PX1, +0.11% gained 0.2%, but the FTSE 100 UKX, -0.22% fell 0.3%. U.S. stock futures YM00, -0.08% indicated a modestly positive for the open, after the Dow and S&P 500 SPX, +0.31% finished higher and the Nasdaq COMP, +1.06% booked its 35th record close.
The euro EURUSD, -0.37% slipped 0.2% against the dollar to $1.1842, dropping sharply after the flash IHS Markit French composite PMI for August fell to a two-month low. The overall eurozone composite PMI fell to a two-month low of 51.6 in August from 54.9 in July.
Europe’s economic struggles come as virus cases have resurged across several countries this summer, while the U.S. may finally be getting a handle on its own outbreak. Meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chanceller Angela Merkel said Thursday that Europe must avoid fresh lockdowns and closing borders, Bloomberg reported.
The U.K. reported a 3.6% gain in July retail sales, which analysts said was better than expected, but that was paired with news government debt hit 2 trillion pounds ($2.6 trillion) for the first time due to the battle to stem damage from the pandemic.
Investors have, though, shown an ability to shake off the deep damage the virus has inflected on global economies.
Positive vaccine news gave Asian stocks boost and may be helping Europe’s mood on Friday. Pharmaceutical group Pfizer Inc. PFE, +1.20% said its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, being developed jointly with BioNTech SE BNTX, +1.02%, was on track for regulatory review as early as October as it released more data on the product.
Among stocks on the move, shares of Flughafen Zuerich AG FHZN, +2.86% rose over 2%. The airport operator swung to a first-half loss due to the collapse of air travel over the pandemic , and released a cautious outlook. But analysts at Citigroup said revenue and earnings came in better than expected.
