European Stocks Narrow Weekly Losses

European stocks closed higher on Friday for the second consecutive session, supported by a positive performance by leisure and travel stocks, despite losses by the banking stocks, which limited gained amid concerns about the Delta variant of the Coronavirus.

The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 1.18 points or 0.26% and closed at 456.81 points, down by 0.82 points or 0.18% for the week.

Meanwhile, the blue chips EURO STOXX 50 index gained 5.42 points, or 0.13%, but gained 36.35 points, or 0.88%, for the week as it closed at 4,084.31 points.

In France, the CAC 40 index closed Friday marginally lower by 0.96 points, or 0.01%, at 6,552.86 points.

For the week, the French benchmark index lost 70.01 points, or 1.06%. This marked the worst weekly performance for the index in about four months, since the week ending February 26.

Similarly, the UK’s FTSE100 slipped 1.89 points or 0.03% to settle at 7,123.27 points, extending its losses on a weekly basis to 12.80 points or 0.18%.

On the other hand, the German DAX added 46.28 points or 0.30% to end the week at 15,650.09 points, turning to a weekly rise of 0.27%.