European equities pushed higher on Friday, extending mid-week advances, as the pan-European STOXX 600 added 0.6% to 644.67 points and London's FTSE 100 closed up 0.9% at 10,736.23. SAP shares jumped nearly 10% after the software group reported stronger-than-expected cloud backlog growth, pulling the European technology index up 1.7% amid sustained investor bets on artificial intelligence.
Stronger economic data underpinned sentiment. UK retail sales surged 4.2% year-on-year in June, far exceeding forecasts, while the S&P Global flash composite PMI climbed to a three-month high of 52.1. However, Deutsche Bank analysts warned that big tech faces headwinds from declining free cash flow and rising competition from open-source AI models.
In commodities, Brent crude fell to $95.49 a barrel from above $100, while three ECB policymakers flagged the possible need for further rate hikes. The US announced fresh tariffs of up to 12.5% on 60 countries, with the EU and UK facing 10% levies ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday.