By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch)--European stocks surged Friday, with the
Stoxx Europe 600 breaking its longest losing streak in more than a
decade, but the benchmark still fell for the week in which
heightened fears about slowing global growth led investors to flee
equities worldwide.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended up 2.8% at 318.68, its first
win in nine sessions. The last time the index fell for eight
consecutive sessions was in September 2003, according to data from
Dow Jones.
All 10 sectors on the benchmark moved higher Friday, led by a
3.6% gain for the oil and gas group. Tullow Oil jumped 8.3% as the
oil-and gas-exploration company resolved a dispute with workers at
some of its sites in Kenya, according to a Dow Jones report.
But the battering stocks took across the board left the European
benchmark down by 0.9% for the week. The benchmark also this week
registered a correction, or a loss of 10% or more from a recent
high.
The "risk-off/panic/profit-taking' extended to the periphery,
and the old smell of the eurozone crisis even resurfaced, in
contrast with the actually supportive pieces of news on the Italian
budget" which includes tax cuts for corporates, Kepler Cheuvreux
analysts wrote Friday.
Greece's Athex Composite gained 7.2%, but logged a 7.3% slide
for the week during which it plunged on concerns about political
instability in the country. Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
said Friday the government is talking to lenders a post-bailout
strategy, including a possible credit line Greece could use in the
event of market turmoil, Reuters reported.
Among Stoxx 600 gainers, National Bank of Greece SA climbed
8.9%, and Italy's Banca dell'Emilia Romagna rose 7.1%. Peugeot SA
leapt 6.8% as September car registrations in the European Union
rose 6.4% on the year.
But finishing as the index's biggest decliner, Rolls-Royce
Holdings PLC skidded 11.5% lower after the company cut its
full-year sales projection. The engine maker said a number of
orders have been canceled or delayed as economic conditions have
worsened and Russian trade sanctions have tightened.
On other country indexes, Germany's DAX 30 jumped 3.1% to
8,850.27. A decline on Wednesday drove the benchmark down more than
14% from its 2014 closing high, hit in July, according to Dow Jones
data.
Italy's FTSE MIB index rose 3.4% on Friday to 18,700.98, but
still logged a 2.6% gain for the week.
France's CAC 40 finished up 2.9% at 4,033.18, and the U.K.'s
FTSE 100 rose 1.9% to 6,310.29. For the week, the CAC fell 2.6% and
the FTSE 100 shed 0.5%
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