European Shares Gain Ahead Of US Jobs Report

(RTTNews) - European stocks edged higher on Friday after the Labour Party secured a landslide victory in the U.K. election to end 14 years of Conservative rule, as widely expected.

Regarding Sunday's parliamentary elections in France, opinion polls show the second-round run-off vote may lead to a hung parliament with no clear majority.

Optimism about a U.S. rate cut also underpinned sentiment ahead of key U.S. jobs numbers, due later in the day.

Closer home, German industrial production declined unexpectedly in May, while Eurozone's retail sales rose 0.3 percent year-on-year in May, after having registered a 0.6 percent growth in April, separate set of data showed.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.4 percent to 519.59 after gaining 0.6 percent on Thursday.

The German DAX jumped 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 added half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent. Roche Holding rose over 1 percent after receiving the U.S. FDA approval for the Vabysmo prefilled syringe (PFS) for treating three leading causes of vision loss.

Housebuilders traded higher in London, with Barratt Developments, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey surging 3-4 percent.

It is likely that the Labour Party victory will see the introduction of the Freedom to Buy scheme to replace the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme.

HSBC Holdings fell 1.4 percent after Bloomberg News reported that French bank BNP Paribas and Swiss lender UBS are showing interest in buying its German wealth-management unit.

Aixtron SE shares jumped 16.5 percent. The German company, which supplies deposition equipment for chipmakers, announced healthier-than-expected second-quarter orders.

Automakers BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen were trading higher as steep tariffs on Chinese imports took effect.