European stocks edge higher before G20

LONDON: Europe’s main stock markets rose Friday as traders digested mixed retail sales data out of Britain and looked ahead to a meeting of the world’s 20 major economies.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index climbed 0.26 per cent to stand at 6,830.75 points in late afternoon deals.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 inched up 0.09 per cent to 9,627.72 points and in Paris the CAC 40 climbed 0.42 per cent to 4,373.95 compared with Thursday’s closing levels.
In foreign exchange deals, the British pound firmed to $1.6675 from $1.6657 on Thursday. The euro fell to 82.28 British pence from 82.36 pence.
The European single currency dipped to $1.3714 from $1.3721 late in New York on Thursday.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rose to $1,320.43 an ounce from $1,316.25 on Thursday.
Recent volatility in the currencies of emerging economies will be high on the agenda as G20 central bankers and finance chiefs meet in Sydney at the weekend.
Currencies from Argentina to Russia, South Africa and Turkey have been in free fall, in part because heavyweight US investors are repatriating funds in anticipation of higher returns at home as the Federal Reserve tightens years of relaxed monetary policy.
Meanwhile: US stocks opened slightly higher Friday helped by Hewlett-Packard, which showed surprise pickups in server and personal computer sales in its last quarter.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.02 per cent at 16,135.67.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.05 per cent to 1,840.62, some eight points shy of its record, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite added 0.26 percent at 4,278.75.
Tokyo stocks led a rebound on Asian stock markets after a downturn Thursday triggered by a trio of gloomy figures from China, the United States and Japan that cast a pall over the economic outlook.