- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
Eurozone stocks edge higher as weak data offsets China support
Eurozone stock markets rose only slightly Friday as the bloc's weak economic data offset hopes China would ease its long-running crackdown on the tech sector -- news that sent Asian equities soaring.
In foreign exchange, the dollar dropped on profit-taking after surging to multi-years highs against the yen and euro this week with the US Federal Reserve set to aggressively hike interest rates to combat soaring inflation.
By contrast, Russia's central bank on Friday said it was cutting its key interest rate for a second straight time, noting that risks of price rises and financial instability were no longer on the rise.
The rate will fall to 14 percent from 17 on Wednesday.
Market sentiment remains fragile as traders operate under the shadows of the Ukraine war, soaring inflation, US interest rate hikes and China's Covid lockdowns.
The eurozone economy felt the fallout from the Ukraine war as output slowed and inflation stayed at record levels in the first quarter, official data showed Friday, imperilling Europe's recovery from the pandemic.
But there was some much-needed good news for China's embattled tech sector.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that a meeting of the government's decision-making body ended with officials saying it was "necessary to promote the healthy development of the platform economy" and "complete its rectification".
The report suggests an easing of the sweeping clampdown on the country's biggest firms.
In the Politburo meeting, chaired by Xi Jinping, officials also said there was a need to "respond to market concerns in a timely manner".
Hong Kong stock markets closed up four percent Friday and Shanghai put on more than two percent.
In the US, a healthy earnings update from Facebook parent Meta on Thursday helped to offset poorly-received results from Apple and Amazon.
- ExxonMobil profits soar -
Elsewhere, oil prices jumped Friday as tight Russian supply fears help to offset weaker demand concerns fuelled by China's lockdowns.
ExxonMobil reported that first-quarter profits more than doubled to $5.5 billion as high oil prices more than made up for costs connected to exiting its Sakhalin project in Russia.
The US energy giant last month announced a phased withdrawal from the giant Sakhalin offshore oil field that it has operated since 1995 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The shift resulted in a $3.4 billion hit in one-time costs during quarter.
Elsewhere, US market regulators said Tesla chief Elon Musk had sold about $4 billion worth of shares in the electric carmaker in the days after Twitter's board agreed to his mega takeover of the social media platform.
- Key figures at around 1115 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,512.19 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 14,055.28
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 6,522.46
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 3,791.72
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 4.0 percent at 21,089.39 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 2.4 percent at 3,047.06 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
New York - Dow: UP 1.9 percent at 33,916.39 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0567 from $1.0509 late Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2569 from $1.2468
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.06 pence from 84.25 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 130 yen from 130.79 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.7 percent at $109.38 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $106.33 per barrel
B.Godinho--PC