European stocks rise on higher French Saint-Gobain, Swedish ‎Elekta shares

European shares opened higher on Friday, supported by upbeat earnings reports from French building materials company Saint-Gobain and Swedish medical equipment Elekta.

According to “Reuters”, the Stoxx 600 index rose 0.4 percent, by 0811 GMT, tracking the rise in Asian markets after the Bank of Japan’s exclusion of an early end to monetary easing policy led to lower bond yields globally.

Saint-Gobain shares rose 5.5 percent, boosting the European construction and raw materials sector by 0.8 percent, after the company recorded record annual revenues that exceeded analysts’ expectations of strong growth in all its regions on Thursday.

Elekta shares also jumped 7.7 percent to top the STOXX 600 after good profits in the third quarter.

While German chemical giant BASF shares fell 3.7 percent, as the company indicated a decline in its annual profits. It said it plans to cut 2,600 jobs and stop buybacks.