European Stocks Pare Modest Weekly Losses

(RTTNews) - European stocks inched higher Friday, extending modest weekly gains amid falling commodity prices and a weaker euro.

The euro stayed near its lowest in 26 months against the dollar amid anemic euro area economic growth figures, giving exporters a bit of a lift.

Euro zone gross domestic product gained seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent from the second quarter, when it was up 0.1 percent. Economists had forecast the rate to remain at 0.1 percent. On a yearly basis, GDP growth remained unchanged at 0.8 percent, while it was forecast to slow marginally to 0.7 percent.

Further, the German economy recovered at a moderate pace avoiding a recession in the third quarter, while France rebounded at the fastest rate in a year, preliminary results showed.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index of euro area bluechips was up 0.10 percent, for a weekly loss of 0.16 percent.

Around the region today, Germany's DAX added 0.05 percent, the CAC of France gained 0.35 percent and the FTSE of the UK rose 0.29 percent.

Energy stocks struggled as crude oil prices slipped to their lowest in more than 4 years.

Schibsted ASA jumped 33.7 percent after announcing a deal for joint ventures in online classifieds across four countries.

SBM Offshore dropped 3.8 percent amid concerns about its future in Brazil.

Deutsche Telekom was raised to "Outperform" from "Neutral" at BNP Exane. Shares rose 0.7 percent.

Bouygues, which raised sales forecast for the year, rose 4.3 percent.

Aggreko picked up 3.4 percent. The temporary power services provider said its underlying group revenue for the third quarter was up 6 percent from last year.

Nokia lost 5.3 percent in Helsinki. At its Capital Markets Day event, the company said it expects sales growth in all segments in 2015.

Salzgitter jumped 7.7 percent as Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank upgraded their rating on the stock.