By Investors Hub
European stocks have risen on Friday as investors brace for U.S.-China trade talks scheduled for next week and cheered positive news on the Brexit front.
The euro recovered some lost ground against the dollar after hitting its lowest level in six weeks on Thursday in the wake of ECB President Mario Draghi’s downbeat comments.
While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.1 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 1.7 percent.
The weaker euro has boosted auto stocks, with BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, Renault and Peugeot moving to the upside on the day.
Shares of Ericsson have also risen in Stockholm after the Swedish networking and telecom giant reported a sharply narrower net loss in its fourth quarter on increased net sales.
On the other hand, Telia Lietuva, AB, the Lithuanian telecom unit of Swedish telecom company Telia Co., has dropped after its fourth quarter profit declined 4.9 percent from last year.
Vodafone Group has also moved to the downside after the telecom conglomerate?s revenue growth slowed in the third quarter.
In economic news, Germany’s Ifo business confidence indicator dropped more than expected in January and fell below 100 for the first time since May 2016, survey results from the Ifo Institute showed.
The Ifo business climate index dropped to 99.1 from 101 in December. Economists had expected the reading to ease to 100.6.
In the U.K., mortgage approvals for house purchases came in slightly higher than expected in December, though the figure was the lowest in three months.