European shares on track for weekly gains; Thyssenkrupp glows

Hewson, however, added that interest rate uncertainties still, loomed making it difficult to plot out any sort of long-term strategy. At the bottom of the STOXX, the world's biggest lights maker Signify dropped 8.1% as its first-quarter adjusted core profit came in lower than market expectations , dented by soft China demand and bleak European Professional segment performance.

European shares rose on Friday and looked set to end the week higher as investors cheered robust results from tech giants in the United States, while Thyssenkrupp was on course for its best day in 23 months on a divesture announcement.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index started the session with a 0.6% increase by 0845 GMT. The technology sector drove most of the gains on the top index as investors took comfort from upbeat quarterly results from U.S. technology giants Microsoft and Alphabet.

Thyssenkrupp surged 10.5% to the top of the main index after the German firm said it will sell a 20% stake in its steel business to the energy holding controlled by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. On the earnings front, Amundi added 7% after Europe's biggest fund manager posted strong first-quarter inflows.

Offsetting the optimism, Airbus posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter operating profit and cashflow, sending shares of the planemaker down 2.3% to the bottom of France's benchmark index. Overall, LSEG analysts estimate first-quarter earnings to decrease 12.1% from a year earlier, as of Tuesday.

The benchmark index was on course to mark a weekly gain of 1.2%, snapping a three-week losing streak. Much of the volatility during the week has been driven by a mixed corporate earnings season, against the backdrop of ebbing Middle East tensions.

"It feels like at the moment there is a whole lot of opportunism and there is also an awful lot of portfolio repositioning going on," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell. Meanwhile, a study by the German Economic Institute (IW) showed Germany's economic weakness is finally

taking a toll on the labour market .

European Central Bankers have been closely monitoring the labour market to determine the timing of interest rate cuts, with most investors confident of one in June. Hewson, however, added that interest rate uncertainties still, loomed making it difficult to plot out any sort of long-term strategy.

At the bottom of the STOXX, the world's biggest lights maker Signify dropped 8.1% as its first-quarter adjusted core profit came in lower than market expectations

, dented by soft China demand and bleak European Professional segment performance. Jeronimo Martins jumped 5.3% after the Portuguese food retailer

reported a core profit beat, driven by its Poland and Colombia business.

Later in the day, the U.S. March Personal Consumption Expenditure data is due that could offer clues on the trajectory of monetary policy out of the world's largest economy.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)