Investing.com - European equity indices edged higher Friday, ending a largely positive week on the up as investors digested more quarterly corporate earnings amid persistent trade uncertainty.
The DAX index in Germany climbed 0.8%, the CAC 40 in France gained 0.5% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose 0.1%.
Trade tensions ease
The main European stock markets have had a largely positive week as the shock wears off from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs announcement at the start of the month, with the pan Europe Stoxx 600 index enjoying a three-day winning streak so far, gaining 2.4% this week.
Adding to the relatively positive sentiment was a Bloomberg report, which indicated earlier Friday that China’s government is weighing the exemption of some U.S. goods from its 125% import tariffs, potentially easing some of the tensions that exist between the leaders of the two largest economies in the world.
U.K. retail sales rise
Adding to optimism, data released earlier Friday showed that British retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.4% in March, after downwardly revised growth of 0.7% in March.
For the first quarter as a whole, retail sales rose by 1.6%, the strongest reading in four years, providing a much-needed boost to the U.K. economy, even after a survey by the British Retail Consortium said the U.S. tariffs had weighed heavily on consumer confidence.
The trade body said late Thursday that its balance of consumer sentiment about the state of the economy sank to its lowest in at least a year at -48 in April, down from -35 in March.
Flood of earnings
There are more corporate earnings to digest, on both sides of the Atlantic.
In Europe, Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab (ST:SAABb) on Friday posted strong first quarter results with 11% sales growth, driven by demand in global defense markets and successful project execution.
Swiss building materials company Holcim (SIX:HOLN) reported stable first-quarter sales and maintained its 2025 outlook, as growth in Latin America and Europe helped offset weather-related setbacks in North America and supported its ongoing spin-off of Amrize.
French jet engine maker Safran (EPA:SAF) beat expectations for the first quarter and offered “strong confidence” in achieving its full-year targets despite the U.S.-led global trade war.
Across the pond, Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) beat expectations for quarterly revenue when it released its results after the close Thursday, with steady growth in its digital advertising business helping to offset muted growth at its cloud computing unit.
On the flip side, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) issued downbeat forecasts for both revenue and profit, as investors fretted about the outlook for the chip sector against the backdrop of the U.S./China trade war.
Crude prices set for weekly loss
Oil prices edged higher Friday, but the market was headed for a weekly decline amid concerns about oversupply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
At 11:50 ET, Brent futures climbed 0.1% to $66.63 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.1% to $62.86 a barrel.
Both contracts were set to decline around 2% this week after Reuters reported that several oil producing nations in the OPEC cartel are pushing to accelerate output hikes in June, extending May’s surprise boost, as internal disputes over quota compliance deepen.
OPEC, and allies like Russia, a group known as OPEC+, will meet on May 5 to finalize their plans for June output levels.