By Investors Hub
European stocks have 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.
While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index has surged up by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are up by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
British property website operator Rightmove has moved to the upside after announcing the appointment of Andrew Fisher as non-executive Chairman, effective 1 January 2020.
Vonovia has also edged higher. The German residential property company said that it currently controls 72.3 percent of the votes in Hembla.
On the other hand, Aryzta shares have tumbled after the Swiss-Irish baker said its organic revenue fell 2.5 percent during the first quarter of its financial year.
Hochschild Mining has also fallen. 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 unexpectedly fell 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, new ECB President Christine Lagarde said.
?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.
Adedapo Adesanya