© Reuters. An electronic screen showing the stock trading movement on the German DAX index on Thursday. Photo: Reuters.
(Reuters) – European stocks opened higher on Friday, boosted by upbeat earnings reports from French building materials company Saint-Gobain and Swedish medical equipment maker Elekta.
The index rose 0.4% by 0811 GMT, tracking a rally in Asian markets after the Bank of Japan’s exclusion of an early end to monetary easing pushed down global bond yields.
Saint-Gobain shares rose 5.5%, boosting the European construction and raw materials sector by 0.8%, after the company reported record annual revenue that beat analysts’ expectations of strong growth in all its regions on Thursday.
Elekta shares also jumped 7.7 percent to top the STOXX 600 after healthy third-quarter earnings.
German chemical giant BASF fell 3.7 percent as the company reported a decline in its annual profit. It said it plans to cut 2,600 jobs and halt buybacks.
(Prepared by Rehab Alaa for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Suha Jadu)
