London - European shares advanced in
early deals on Friday, though France's benchmark CAC 40
declined slightly ahead of the first round of voting in the
French presidential election.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1
percent, on track to mark its third session of straight gains,
while France's CAC fell 0.4 percent.
French food group Danone was the biggest faller on
the CAC 40, down 2.4 percent after reporting first-quarter sales
figures, which rose 0.7 percent, a sharp slowdown from 2.1
percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2016.
French banks extended the previous session's gains, with
Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit
Agricole trading 0.2 percent to 1.2 percent higher.
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A rally in basic resources stocks underpinned
broader gains, as the sector rose 1.9 percent on the back of
supportive metals prices.
Earnings and deal-making drove the action at the
single-stock level, with Germany's Software AG
climbing 4.6 percent to the top of the STOXX 600 after reporting
first-quarter results. The software business maker's quarterly
core profit declined less than expected.
Engineering firm WS Atkins gained 4 percent after
Canada's SNC-Lavalin Group said it would buy the firm
for C$3.6 billion ($2.67 billion), firming up an indicative
offer it made earlier this month.
Domino's Pizza rose more than 3 percent after Peel
Hunt raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from hold".