By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Europe stocks traded higher Friday, with gains for industrial and tech shares drawing the region's benchmark toward its third straight weekly win, as investors appeared to set aside concerns about a possible shutdown of the U.S. government.

What are stocks doing?: The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.4% to 400.26, on course for first close above 400 since Jan. 9, according to FactSet data. On Thursday, the benchmark rose 0.2% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-edge-up-as-chinese-data-cheers-traders-2018-01-18).

For the week, the pan-European gauge was headed toward a 0.5% increase. That would be its third weekly win in a row.

In Friday's trade, Germany's DAX 30 index rose 0.9% to 13,404.27, and France's CAC 40 tacked on 0.5% to 5,523.28. Spain's IBEX 35 bulked up 0.4% to 10,478.80.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index was up 0.1% at 7,709.06 in choppy trade.

The euro bought $1.2283, up from $1.2239 late Thursday in New York.

What's driving markets: European stocks had a tentative start, with politics here and abroad on the radar. The session got underway with news that the U.S. government may still shut down Saturday.

The U.S. House of Representatives late Thursday passed a one-month spending bill that would keep the government funded through Feb. 16 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/republicans-appear-to-have-house-votes-for-funding-bill-but-shutdown-still-looms-2018-01-18). However, the measure appears to lacks support in the Senate. The current interim funding bill expires at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday.

But U.S. stocks futures didn't seem rattled by the prospects of a work stoppage in Washington. Dow futures during European trade were up over 90 points, following Thursday's loss for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-looks-likely-to-cling-to-26000-threshold-but-bulls-take-a-breather-2018-01-18) .

Meanwhile, members of the Germany's Social Democratic Party on Sunday in Bonn will vote on whether the party should delve into deeper discussions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party about possibly forming a coalition government. Merkel hasn't been able to put together a ruling coalition since September's election.

Tech stocks in Europe continued to build on recent gains, putting the Stoxx Europe 600 Technology Index on track for a 3% weekly rise. Aiding gains this week was a report that U.S. shipments of chips are set to reach $50.1 billion in 2021 (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-shipments-of-semiconductors-to-reach-501-billion-in-2021-300584062.html).

What strategists are saying: "We expect the [EUR/USD] pair to continue to trade in a sideways manner for the short term and it could be influenced by the fundamental news regarding the possible U.S. government shutdown, as well as any further developments on the German government coalition, especially on the SPD side," said Peter Iosif, senior research analyst at IronFX, in a note.

"Please be advised, that there is a possibility that the pair could open with a negative gap on Monday, should the SPD congress decide not to back the deal struck by SPD leadership with [Merkel's] Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union," said Iosif.

Stock movers: Thyssenkrupp AG (TKA.XE) climbed 4.4%, leading the DAX 30 index. CEO Heinrich Hiesinger has confirmed the steelmaker's 2018 targets and said the company is still working on its planned joint venture with Tata Steel, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Volkswagen AG shars (VOW.XE) claimed a 0.9% rise, with Deutsche Bank saying it will take profit after a "great run" in shares of Infineon Technologies AG (IFX.XE) and reinvest some of the proceeds into Volkswagen shares.

"DB analysts see 2018/19 as the sweet spot for VW, which they believe is yet to be fully priced," said Deutsche Bank head of research Andrea Neubauer in a note issued Friday.

Shares of semiconductor company Infineon were up 0.8% on Friday, pushing its gain to nearly 11% so far this year.

DIY retailer Kingfisher PLC (KGF.LN) dropped 3.8% after flooring seller Carpetright PLC (CPR.LN) issued a profit warning, sending its shares tumbling 43%.

Easyjet PLC (EZJ.LN) rose 2.8% following a ratings upgrade to equal weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. But Air France-KLM (AF.FR) was downgraded to equal weight from overweight, pulling its shares down 0.4%.

Economic data: U.K. retail sales dropped sharply in December, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-retail-sales-drop-sharply-in-december-2018-01-19) with the 1.5% fall nearly double the decline estimated in a poll conducted by The Wall Street Journal. The Office for National Statistics also sales in 2017 rose 1.9%, the slowest rate of annual growth since 2013.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2018 06:40 ET (11:40 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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