STOXX 600 jumps over 1% to one-week high on real-estate boost
STOXX 600 up 1.2%
EZ business activity declines abruptly in Nov -PMI
Thales tanks on Anglo-French bribery investigation
Games Workshop hits record high on upbeat HY forecast
Updates to closing levels
By Ankika Biswas, Joao Manuel Vicente Mauricio and Pranav Kashyap
Nov 22 (Reuters) - European real estate stocks surged, propelling the benchmark index to a one-week high on Friday, while easing of geopolitical tensions also relieved some recent selling pressure.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX jumped1.2%, its best daily performance in nearly two months.
The session's positive performance contributed to a 1.1% gain for the index this week, breaking a four-week losing streak which was the longest since May 2022.
The index had lost over 4% in the past four weeks due to a combination of factors, including risinguncertainty over theUkraine-Russia conflict, likely economicimplications of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs, and domestic growth-related woes.
The benchmark index is up about 5% for the year, sharply lagging the U.S. S&P 500's .SPX near 25% jump.
"The outlook for Europe compared to the U.S. is actually pretty grim," said Stefan Koopman, senior market economist at Rabobank, citing poor export and industrial demand perspectives.
Data showed euro zone business activity took a surprisingly sharp turn for the worse this month, owing to contractions in the services industry and manufacturing sinking deeper into recession.
Germany's economy grew less than previously estimated in the third quarter, with the country set to be the worst performer among the Group of Seven rich democracies this year.
Rate-sensitive real estate stocks .SX86P were the biggest boost on the STOXX 600. A lower interest rate environment leads to lower costs of borrowing, in turn boosting house sales.
Banks .SX7E were the biggest drag, limiting gains on the index, losing 1.3%.
"The latest flash PMIs suggest that while industry continues to struggle across advanced economies, services activity is now slowing in Europe too," analysts from Capital Economics said in a note.
Meanwhile, "protectionist policies from the U.S. next year will have only a small economic impact on Europe, but the fallout will vary between countries and there are risks of greater damage if the trade conflict escalates," they added.
The techindex.SX8P rose 1.3%,led by chip stocks. The sector ended Thursday higher on confidence in the AI boom despite investor disappointment over U.S.-based Nvidia's NVDA.O revenue forecast.
Other sectors such as media .SXRP and healthcare .SXDP were also up over 2.7% each.
Miniature war game maker Games Workshop Group GAW.L jumped 17.2%, hitting record highs, after an upbeathalf-year forecast.
Brenntag BNRGn.DE rose 4.4% after Berenberg upgraded the chemicals distributor's stock to "buy" from "hold."
Soitec SOIT.PA extended gains for the second day, up 7.2% on Friday, after the French semiconductor materials supplierreiterated its 2025 outlook.
Thales TCFP.PA fell 2.8% on Britain's Serious Fraud Office's investigation of suspected bribery and corruption at the company jointly with French authorities.
French infrastructure and technology company Technip Energies TE.PA fell for the second day, down 3.8% on Friday, after setting out itsshort-term and medium-term targets.
Nexans SA NEX.PA dropped 3% after the sale of a 5% stake in the French cable maker by Chile's richest family.
Reporting by Ankika Biswas, Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru and Joao Manuel Mauricio in Gdansk; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Anil D'Silva and Chris Reese
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