Investing.com - European stocks were higher on Friday, as disappointing manufacturing and service sector activity data from the euro zone on Thursday added to expectations for further easing measures by the European Central Bank.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.57%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.53%, while Germany’s DAX 30 climbed 0.69%.
On Thursday, a report showed that the euro zone’s services purchasing managers’ index fell to 51.3 this month, while the manufacturing PMI slid to 50.4 from 50.6 in October.
The report said the PMI surveys pointed to economic growth of just 0.1% to 0.2% in the current quarter.
Expectations for more stimulus measures from the ECB remained high after central bank President Mario Draghi said Monday that it could expand its asset purchase program to include government bonds.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) rose 0.27% and 0.29%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) added 0.24% and 0.21%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo gained 0.27% and 0.35% respectively, while Spanish bank BBVA advanced 0.38%.
On the downside, Telecom Italia (MILAN:TLIT) tumbled 1.60% amid reports the company plans to ask for directors' support on Friday to explore a potential transaction between its Brazilian wireless unit Tim Participacoes SA (SA:TIMP3) and Oi SA (SA:OIBR3).
In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.39%, led by Intertek Group (LONDON:ITRK), up 2.22% as the solutions provider regained some ground after cutting its full year guidance earlier in the week.
Energy stocks added to gains, with shares in oil and gas major BP (LONDON:BP) climbing 0.85%, while rivals Petrofac and Tullow Oil (LONDON:TLW) surged 1.53% and 2.50% respectively.
Mining companies were also on the upside, as Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) jumped 1.04% and Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) rallied 1.66%, while Bhp Billiton and Rio Tinto rallied 0.98% and 1.32%.
In the financial sector, stocks were mostly higher. Shares in Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) edged up 0.07% and Barclays added 0.21%, while HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) gained 0.34%. The Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) underperformed however, down 0.32%.
RBS made headlines on Thursday after being fined £56 million by British regulators for the 2012 collapse of its computer system that left millions of customers without access to their accounts for weeks.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.21% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.23% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.23% increase.