European Shares Edge Higher With Focus On Upcoming Powell Speech

(RTTNews) - European stocks traded higher on Friday after the release of some encouraging regional data.

Destatis reported that the German economy stabilized in spring after slight declines in the previous two quarters.

Gross domestic product posted nil growth in the second quarter after a 0.1 percent fall in the first quarter and a 0.4 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2022.

With the latest flat growth, the biggest euro area economy ended a short period of recession.

Elsewhere, a survey revealed Britons are now less downbeat about the outlook for their personal finances.

The GfK consumer sentiment indicator rose to -25 in August from a three-month low of -30 in July, marking its biggest rise since April.

The pan European STOXX 600 was up 0.3 percent at 452.74 after declining 0.4 percent on Thursday.

The German DAX edged up 0.2 percent, France's CAC 40 added half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent.

The euro fell to its lowest level since mid-June on expectations that the European Central Bank could soon pause rate hikes to support weakening growth.

Euro zone bond yields edged up after longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields soared to a 16-year high.

Higher metal prices helped lift miners, with Anglo American and Antofagasta climbing 1-2 percent.

Oil & gas giant BP Plc rose over 1 percent and Shell added 0.8 percent as crude prices advanced ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming speech in Jackson Hole.

CMC Markets, a provider of online retail and institutional platform technology, plunged more than 10 percent after the company said that it sees lower net revenue trends for the fiscal 2024, on continued subdued market conditions.

Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson was marginally lower after an announcement that it has renewed a multi-year global patent cross-licensing deal with Chinese electronic company, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.