European stocks scaled new highs on Friday and were on track for their fourth consecutive week of gains on optimism over a strong earnings season and steady recovery from the pandemic-led economic downturn.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index inched up 0.1% by 0712 GMT to hit a record high for the tenth straight session. Retailers and travel & leisure stocks were the top sectoral gainers.
Adidas rose 1.8% after it said it was selling Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for up to 2.1 billion euros ($2.5 billion).
Pet supplies retailer Zooplus shot up 40.4% after it accepted a takeover offer worth around 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) from U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.
French healthcare company Ipsen fell 9% after it withdrew a U.S. new drug application for palovarotene, its treatment for an extremely rare disease that causes muscles and tissue to turn to bone.
The FTSE MIB climbed up by 0.14% to 26,590.30. In the cash markets, the DAX Germany was trading up 0.31% to 15,985.65. CAC 40 in France rose by 0.19% to 6,895.60 while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. were up by 0.32% to 7,216.35. ,at the time of writing.
