Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Investors Hub
European stocks have moved to the upside on Friday after falling the most in nine months in the previous session on the back of hawkish commentary from central banks.
While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is just above the unchanged line.
Lufthansa has moved higher on reports the airline is boosting its technology offering to meet the needs of its customers in 2020.
Subsea 7 has also moved higher after it agreed to take over certain business and assets of fellow subsea company Emas Chiyoda Subsea.
Meanwhile, Bayer shares have slumped after the company warned it would adjust full-year forecasts for sales and earnings in the Crop Science and Consumer Health divisions.
BASF has eased edged lower after unveiling plans to buy seed assets from rivals. U.K. pub retailer Greene King has tumbled after JP Morgan downgraded its rating to neutral.
In economic news, German retail sales recovered at a faster than expected pace in May, while the country’s jobless rate held steady at a record low of 5.7 percent in June, separate reports showed.
Official data showed French consumer spending climbed 1.0 percent month-over-month in May, faster than the 0.4 percent rise in April.
The third estimate from the Office for National Statistics showed that the U.K. economy expanded as estimated in the first quarter. GDP grew 0.2 percent sequentially, unrevised from the previous estimate.
Eurozone consumer price inflation eased slightly in June on slowing energy price growth, flash data from Eurostat showed Friday.
Consumer prices climbed 1.3 percent year-on-year in June, slightly slower than the 1.4 percent increase seen in May. Inflation was forecast to slow to 1.2 percent.
