European stocks on course for best week in seven months

European stocks were headed for their best weekly performance in seven months on Friday, as investors took heart from strong earnings reports that helped ease concerns about higher inflation.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.4% by 0707 GMT, on course to end the week with a 2.3% gain, helped by a sharp rebound in risk appetite in the past two sessions.

Banks were the top gainers in Europe after forecast-beating quarterly results from four of Wall Street's biggest lenders on Thursday.

Retailers, oil & gas and travel rose between 0.6% and 1%.

German fashion retailer Hugo Boss climbed 3.8% after it raised its outlook for the current year after third-quarter earnings rebounded on the back of strong demand in Europe and the Americas.

UK-listed shares of Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) fell 1.3% after the Australian miner cut its 2021 iron ore shipments forecast, citing a tight labour market, while Swiss banking software firm Temenos tumbled 14% after results.

French cloud computing services company OVHcloud rose 1.8% in its Paris stock market debut.