Global stocks rise – Business AM

European markets closed higher on Friday, capping a winning week for global stocks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.31 percent and posted a weekly gain of 2.4 percent. Auto stocks were the sector’s top gainer, up 1.06 percent, while oil and gas shares lost 0.15 percent.

U.S. stocks also posted strong gains, with a big boost on Thursday as weekly jobless claims fell and U.S. retail sales were much stronger than expected. This signaled to investors that fears of a U.S. recession are overblown.

Wall Street’s Stoxx 600 and S&P 500 are lagging behind the levels they started the month at, but steady gains during the week have erased losses from the recent slump.

Asia-Pacific stocks followed the positive momentum from US data and traded higher on Friday.

UK

According to figures on Friday, UK retail sales showed a rebound from a 0.9 percent fall in June to growth of 0.5 percent in July, in line with expectations.

Alex Kerr, UK economist at Capital Economics, noted that the rebound in retail trade was not broad-based, with sectors such as food, clothing and homeware suffering. “We still think that rising real incomes, while inflation is falling, should mean consumer spending growth accelerates for the rest of this year,” Kerr said.

Sterling was trading up 0.4 percent against the U.S. dollar at $1.2902 on Friday morning, its highest level in more than three weeks. The pound was also up 0.2 percent against the euro.

Main fast food

• European markets closed higher on Friday.
• Global stocks had a winning week, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.31 percent.
• Auto stocks posted the sector’s biggest gains, up 1.06 percent.
• Oil and gas stocks declined.

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