BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were moving higher on Friday after Moderna's coronavirus vaccine won backing from a panel of experts who advise the U.S. FDA, setting the stage for the rollout of the second Covid-19 vaccine in the United States.
The upside was capped by fresh U.S.-China tensions, little progress on a federal-spending deal in Washington and continued uncertainty over Brexit.
Reuters reported that the United States is adding dozens of Chinese companies, including the country's top chipmaker SMIC, to a trade blacklist.
U.S. lawmakers continued negotiations to clinch a deal for a new stimulus package, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying talks could spill into the weekend.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.2 percent to 397.88 after rising 0.3 percent in the previous session.
The German DAX gained 0.4 percent, France's CAC 40 index inched up 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.6 percent.
The British pound fell as Britain and European Union negotiators played down expectations a deal will be reached.
Speaking in the European Parliament, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator said it was 'the moment of truth' for the two sides to come to an agreement.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said bridging 'big differences', particularly on fishing rights, would be 'very challenging' while Prime Minister Boris Johnson said discussions were in a 'serious situation'.
Dutch health technology firm Philips jumped 2.7 percent after it agreed to buy U.S. cardiac diagnostics and monitoring firm BioTelemetry in a deal worth $2.8 billion.
Nordic paint and coatings company Tikkurila surged 65 percent after U.S.-based PPG Industries agreed to buy the company for 25.00 euros per share in cash, valuing the company at about 1.1 billion euros, including the assumption of debt and cash.
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S gained 1 percent as it announced the submission of a Marketing Authorisation Application to the European Medicines Agency for subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg, a once-weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue for weight management.
Consumer goods giant Unilever edged up slightly. The company said it would resume brand advertising on social media newsfeed platforms Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in the U.S. starting in January.
British oil & gas company BP Plc rose half a percent after it announced the appointment to its board of Karen Richardson and Johannes Teyssen as non-executive directors.
French ophthalmic company EssilorLuxottica SA rose nearly 2 percent. The company said that its founder and executive chairman, Leonardo Del Vecchio, will voluntarily step back from his executive responsibilities in the company and remain non-executive chairman of the company.
It is due to preserve the equal powers principle of the business combination agreement currently in place.
In economic releases, the euro area current account surplus rose to EUR 27 billion in October from EUR 25 billion in the previous month, driven by trade in goods and services, data from the European Central Bank showed.
The U.K. retail sales volume dropped 3.8 percent month-on-month in November, in contrast to the 1.3 percent rise logged a month ago, a government report revealed. This was the first decline in seven months and was smaller than the economists' forecast of -4.2 percent.
Separately, market research firm GfK said a gauge of confidence among British consumers jumped by the most in eight years in December, boosted by the rollout of the first covid-19 vaccine program in the country.
The closely-watched German IFO business climate index climbed to 92.1 in December from an upwardly revised 90.9 points in the previous month.
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