European shares hit a near five-month high on Friday, as investors looked past a US inflation spike and drew support from a largely positive earnings season.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2%, as of 0717 GMT, driven by miners and chemical stocks.
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet later in the day in Alaska, with the US hoping to seal a ceasfire agreement on Ukraine as well as negotiate a possible nuclear deal.
Globally, stocks rose despite a spike in US producer price data reining in expectations of a 50 basis point rate cut from the Federal Reserve next month and weak Chinese economic data pointing to tariff-related impacts.
NKT jumped 9.1% after the Danish power cable solutions provider updated its full-year financial outlook.
ASML fell 1.5%, with the world’s biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment coming under pressure after US peer Applied Materials lowered its fourth-quarter earning forecasts on weak demand in China and tariff-uncertainty related impacts.
The Dutch firm had issued a similar warning in mid-July, saying it might not achieve 2026 growth.
Chip stocks BE Semiconductor and ASMI dropped 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively.
Pandora was the top laggard on STOXX 600, falling 11.9%, after the Danish jewellery maker’s second-quarter organic revenue missed estimates. Reuters
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