[BENGALURU] Telecom stocks nudged European stocks slightly higher on Friday, but the main indexes were on course for sharp weekly declines as the continent grapples with a fresh wave of Covid-19 cases.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.2 per cent by 7.15am GMT, with telecom stocks jumping 0.8 per cent to lead sectoral gains. Spanish telephone operator MasMovil rose 0.7 per cent after a local newspaper reported that Vodafone has started talks to buy the company. Vodafone gained 1.3 per cent. France's CAC40 fell 0.4 per cent after the country set a new record of daily Covid-19 infections and prime minister warned on Thursday that the government could be forced to reconfine areas.