UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

European stocks post weekly win

European stocks mostly rose on Friday, as Bayer AG shares rallied on news the German conglomerate has reached a multibillion-euro deal to sell parts of its business, which helped the DAX register another record all-time high.

Mining stocks advanced after upbeat import data from major metals consumer China.

What stocks are doing: The Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.3% to 391.55, and advanced 0.5% for the week. The pan-European benchmark has registered five straight weekly gains.

Miners boosted: The Stoxx 600 Basic Resources Index leapt 2.7% on Friday as shares of mining companies marched higher. The moves came after a report showed Chinese imports rose 18.7%, beating forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-exports-up-9-for-7th-month-of-growth-2017-10-13), as exports also grew. China is a major buyer of industrial and precious metals.

Shares of ArcelorMittal SA (MT) jumped 7.4%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) added 3%, and Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) rose 2.4%.

"Seasonal factors helped to boost year-on-year trade growth last month. But there are also hints of a real pick-up in domestic demand, perhaps due to efforts to shore up activity ahead of the Party Congress," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics, in a note.

Communist Party officials will meet in Beijing on Oct. 18 for the high-profile, weeklong 19th Party Congress, where they will reveal plans for the economy.

Stock movers: Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) gained 1.2% after BASF SE (BAS.XE) said it has reached an agreement to buy significant parts of Bayer's seed and herbicide businesses (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/basf-to-buy-significant-parts-of-bayer-businesses-2017-10-13) for 5.9 billion euros ($6.99 billion). BASF shares slipped 0.5%.

GKN PLC shares (GKN.LN) tumbled 10%. The engineering group said Friday its third-quarter margin performance was lower than a year ago (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gkn-margins-squeezed-by-north-america-challenges-2017-10-13), mainly because of operational challenges in its North American aerospace division.

Provident Financial PLC (PFG.LN) rallied 12.4% after the lender said its Vanquis Bank division delivered good growth (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/provident-scraps-2017-dividend-on-doorstep-issues-2017-10-13) in the third quarter and was upbeat on prospects for its Satsuma online loans unit. Provident, which is battling problems in its doorstep-loans unit, confirmed it won't pay a full-year dividend for 2017.

In the currency market, the euro traded at $1.1844, up from $1.1832 late Thursday in New York.

Regional benchmarks: Germany's DAX 30 index added 0.1% to a fresh record at 12,991.87, marking a weekly gain of 0.3%. The German benchmark has climbed for six straight weeks. France's CAC 40 index slipped 0.2% to 5,351.74. For the week, the index declined 0.2%, halting a four-week win streak.

In London, the FTSE 100 index fell 0.3% to 7,535.44, weighed down as the pound climbed above $1.33 for the first time in nearly two weeks. Sterling rose after German newspaper Handelsblatt late Thursday (http://www.handelsblatt.com/my/politik/international/brexit-galgenfrist-fuer-london/20446710.html) reported that the European Union may offer a two-year Brexit transition deal to Britain. The U.K. benchmark posted a weekly gain of 0.2%, and has logged four consecutive weekly rises.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 13, 2017 15:55 ET (19:55 GMT)

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