Investing.com - European equity indices rose strongly Friday, boosted by hopes of trade talks between the U.S. and China, while investors digested a deluge of corporate earnings.
At 04:10 ET (08:10 GMT), the DAX index in Germany climbed 1.5%, the CAC 40 in France gained 1.3% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose 0.9%.
Most European markets were closed Thursday for the May Day holiday.
Prospect of trade talks helps sentiment
Sentiment received a boost Friday after China’s Commerce Ministry said that Beijing was "evaluating" an offer from Washington to hold talks over U.S. President Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs that have prompted a trade war between these two economic giants.
China added that Washington needed to show "sincerity" in negotiations and should be prepared to cancel its unilateral tariffs.
The prospect of trade talks have helped to allay investor worries over an global economic downturn, with data for the world’s two biggest economies having already started to show signs of weakness.
Shell shines
Investors have also had a plethora of quarterly corporate results to wade through, with the earnings season in full flow.
Shell (LON: SHEL ) stock rose 3% after the oil giant posted first-quarter adjusted earnings of $5.6 billion, up more than 50% from the previous quarter, driven by stronger results in its Integrated Gas and Upstream businesses..
Danske Bank (CSE: DANSKE ) stock rose over 3% after Denmark’s biggest lender kept its 2025 profit outlook unchanged as it reported forecast-beating first-quarter profits.
Airbus (EPA: AIR ) stock rose over 4% after the planemaker topped quarterly estimates across the board and reaffirmed its annual outlook.
On the flip side, BASF (ETR: BASFN ) stock fell almost 2% after the German chemicals group flagged “a high level of uncertainty” linked to the recent tariff announcements.
Pearson (LON: PSON ) stock fell over 2% after the British education company acknowledged a more uncertain global economic backdrop, but maintained confidence in its ability to meet this year’s financial targets.
Eurozone inflation, unemployment data due
The European economic data sale includes unemployment and inflation data for the eurozone later in the session, ahead of the key U.S. monthly jobs report later in the session.
Earlier in the session, a survey showed that Germany’s manufacturing sector contracted at the slowest rate in more than 2-1/2 years in April, with the HCOB Germany Manufacturing PMI rising to 48.4 in April from 48.3 in March.
This was the index’s highest level since August 2022, although remaining below the 50.0 threshold indicating growth.
The French manufacturing sector posted its first rise in output in nearly three years in April, with the HCOB final French manufacturing PMI rising to 48.7 in April from 48.5 in March, marking its highest level since January 2023.
Crude edges higher at end of losing week
Oil prices rose Friday, ending a difficult week on a positive note on hopes of a scaling back in the bitter trade war between China and the U.S., the two largest economies in the world.
At 04:10 ET, Brent futures climbed 0.3% to $62.29 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.3% to $59.43 a barrel.
China’s commerce ministry said on Friday that the country was evaluating the possibility of trade talks with the U.S., and this comes after state media reported earlier this week that U.S. officials had reached out to China to open trade negotiations.
Both benchmarks are still set to post weekly losses of over 5% amid concerns that the broader trade war could push the global economy into a recession and crimp oil demand, just as the OPEC+ group is preparing to raise output.