FX.co ★ European Stocks Edge Higher

European stocks ended slightly higher on Friday as investors continued to gauge how economic activity will hold up in a prolonged period of elevated interest rates. The Euro STOXX 50 rose 0.2% to 6,396, while the STOXX 600 also advanced 0.2% to 650.

ASML climbed more than 3% after a volatile week, tracking gains in US-listed AI infrastructure names following encouraging signals from OpenAI’s latest GPT model. Nokia gained 3.1% and Nvidia added 2.6%.

Volkswagen surged 6.6% after approving another round of job cuts aimed at curbing costs and adjusting to weaker auto demand in Germany.

Bank stocks were mixed on a choppy day for global bond markets. Expectations for a possible additional Fed rate hike were reinforced by a strong US jobs report, even as most long-dated Eurozone sovereign yields moved lower. BNP Paribas and ING finished in positive territory, while UniCredit and Santander declined.

For the week, the Euro STOXX 50 lost 1.4%, and the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.8%.