European stocks are heading for gains for the seventh week

European stocks seem to be heading for gains for the seventh week in a row amid easing fears of tightening monetary policy globally. However, stocks fell on Friday ahead of the release of US jobs data.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.5 percent after two days of strong gains. Investors are awaiting US jobs data, which will influence the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates in the future.

Economists expect an increase of about 200,000 jobs in October, and any decline will indicate the success of the Fed’s monetary tightening policy. The latest European data also encouraged the ECB to choose a lower rate of increase.

The decline was mainly in the shares of the energy and banking sectors on the broader index on Friday, to move further away from the highest level since June, which it reached on Thursday.

The Stoxx 600 index is heading for weekly gains, recording an increase of about 0.3 percent, in the longest series of gains since April 2021, as optimism also stemmed from China’s easing of its position regarding the strict restrictions imposed to combat Covid, which had harmed global growth.