- UAE oil giant ADNOC swoops on German chemicals firm Covestro
- Eurozone inflation falls under 2% for first time since 2021
- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
- Breeder who tried to create enormous trophy sheep jailed in US
- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
- As toll crosses 100, Trump puts Hurricane Helene at election center stage
- US Fed Chair sees 'further disinflation' in economy
- Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over app store
- Officials see no shortages from likely US port strike
- UK families of Gaza hostages warn Lebanon attack 'takes focus away'
- Shares in Stellantis, Aston Martin skid on profit warnings
- Dali prints found in London garage sold at auction
- ECB chief backs bank mergers amid UniCredit, Commerzbank talk
- China stocks soar on stimulus, but US and Europe retreat
- 100 dead in storm Helene damage, flooding across US southeast
- China stocks soar on stimulus, Europe slides on automaker woes
- German antitrust watchdog steps up monitoring of Microsoft
- Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods
- E.Guinea, Gabon clash at ICJ over oil-rich islands
- New blow for UK's Starmer as growth data disappoints
- China's top banks to tweak mortgage rates to boost housing market
- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
Eurozone stocks edge higher as weak data offsets China support
Eurozone stock markets rose only slightly Friday as the bloc's weak economic data offset hopes China would ease its long-running crackdown on the tech sector -- news that sent Asian equities soaring.
In foreign exchange, the dollar dropped on profit-taking after surging to multi-years highs against the yen and euro this week with the US Federal Reserve set to aggressively hike interest rates to combat soaring inflation.
By contrast, Russia's central bank on Friday said it was cutting its key interest rate for a second straight time, noting that risks of price rises and financial instability were no longer on the rise.
The rate will fall to 14 percent from 17 on Wednesday.
Market sentiment remains fragile as traders operate under the shadows of the Ukraine war, soaring inflation, US interest rate hikes and China's Covid lockdowns.
The eurozone economy felt the fallout from the Ukraine war as output slowed and inflation stayed at record levels in the first quarter, official data showed Friday, imperilling Europe's recovery from the pandemic.
But there was some much-needed good news for China's embattled tech sector.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that a meeting of the government's decision-making body ended with officials saying it was "necessary to promote the healthy development of the platform economy" and "complete its rectification".
The report suggests an easing of the sweeping clampdown on the country's biggest firms.
In the Politburo meeting, chaired by Xi Jinping, officials also said there was a need to "respond to market concerns in a timely manner".
Hong Kong stock markets closed up four percent Friday and Shanghai put on more than two percent.
In the US, a healthy earnings update from Facebook parent Meta on Thursday helped to offset poorly-received results from Apple and Amazon.
- ExxonMobil profits soar -
Elsewhere, oil prices jumped Friday as tight Russian supply fears help to offset weaker demand concerns fuelled by China's lockdowns.
ExxonMobil reported that first-quarter profits more than doubled to $5.5 billion as high oil prices more than made up for costs connected to exiting its Sakhalin project in Russia.
The US energy giant last month announced a phased withdrawal from the giant Sakhalin offshore oil field that it has operated since 1995 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The shift resulted in a $3.4 billion hit in one-time costs during quarter.
Elsewhere, US market regulators said Tesla chief Elon Musk had sold about $4 billion worth of shares in the electric carmaker in the days after Twitter's board agreed to his mega takeover of the social media platform.
- Key figures at around 1115 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,512.19 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 14,055.28
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 6,522.46
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 3,791.72
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 4.0 percent at 21,089.39 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 2.4 percent at 3,047.06 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
New York - Dow: UP 1.9 percent at 33,916.39 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0567 from $1.0509 late Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2569 from $1.2468
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.06 pence from 84.25 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 130 yen from 130.79 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.7 percent at $109.38 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $106.33 per barrel
Y.Ponomarenko--CPN