(Reuters) – European shares struggled for direction on Friday, as support from energy and mining stocks was offset by weak performances in German copper producer Aurubis following a profit warning and Volkswagen after a brokerage downgrade.
By 0711 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 was flat at 457.9 points, but on track for its second weekly gain, if trend holds.
Germany’s DAX fell 0.2% as Aurubis slumped 18% after Europe’s largest copper producer said it would not reach its full-year profit outlook after identifying “considerable discrepancies” in target inventories.
The broader mining sector, however, gained 0.7% after tracking a rally in most base metal prices. [MET/L]
The oil and gas sector added 1.6% as crude prices rose due to tightening supplies and expectations that the OPEC+ group of oil producers would extend output cuts to the end of the year. [O/R]
Shares of Volkswagen AG slipped 2.5% after UBS downgraded the German automaker to “sell” from “neutral”.
Investor focus is on euro zone factory activity data for August to gauge the European Central Bank’s outlook on interest rates, with its next meeting due in two weeks.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
