Europe midday: Stoxx heads for 500 as rally extends

(Sharecast News) - European shares held gains as the Stoxx 600 index nudged towards the 500 point mark at midday on Friday at the end of a volatile week, with sentiment driven by a positive session on Wall Street overnight, as better-than-expected jobless claims eased worries about the US economy that sparked Monday's selloff. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.59% with all major bourses higher.

"US markets rallied as investors piled back into stocks, and every sector finished in the green, led by chip stocks, which have been under the cosh of late," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Brtizman.

"There wasn't a whole lot of breaking news, but jobless claims were better than expected, and that was enough for markets to latch on to - any positive economic data and the bulls will take it and run."

In economic news, German inflation rose to 2.6% in July, according to official data published on Friday, confirming flash data.

Consumer prices in Europe's biggest economy, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, had risen by 2.5% year-on-year in June.

In China, consumer price inflation accelerated more than expected in July, according to figures released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The consumer price index ticked up to 0.5% year-on-year, from 0.2% in June, coming in ahead of consensus expectations of 0.3% growth. CPI was up 0.5% in July following a 0.2% decline a month earlier and versus expectations of 0.3% growth.

On the equities front, shares in LEG Immobilien jumped 5% as the German property company posted a smaller second-quarter loss than a year earlier after further writing down the value of its properties.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com