European stocks struggled for direction Friday as investors weighed concerns about the Chinese economy against a recent rebound in oil prices.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was flat in the early minutes of trading as gains in energy and mining companies were offset by widespread losses elsewhere.

Boosting oil and gas shares, Brent crude oil was up 0.4% at $46.21 a barrel, building on Thursday's steep climb after Saudi Arabia said it would work with other oil producers to stabilize prices.

Markets in Asia inched higher, after the recent bounce in oil prices helped send all three major U.S. indexes to record highs. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 1.1% as markets reopened from a holiday, while the Hang Seng added 0.8% and the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.6%.

The moves came despite lackluster Chinese economic data, which missed expectations and pointed to a slowdown last month across retail sales, factory output and investment.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 12, 2016 04:05 ET (08:05 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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