European shares flat as health stocks' gain offset luxury, tech drag

European shares were flat on Friday, with the weakness in some luxury firms and tech stocks offset by gains in healthcare companies. The region-wide STOXX 600 was off 0.03% at 0810 GMT, but is on pace for a 0.6% advance in the last week before Christmas after two straight weeks of losses.

European shares were flat on Friday, with the weakness in some luxury firms and tech stocks offset by gains in healthcare companies.

The region-wide STOXX 600 was off 0.03% at 0810 GMT, but is on pace for a 0.6% advance in the last week before Christmas after two straight weeks of losses. The index closed down 1% on Thursday after U.S. data showing a tight labour market and economic resilience fuelled concerns that the Federal Reserve would need to keep hiking interest rates aggressively for longer.

Among STOXX 600 sectors, miners rose 0.4% to lead gains on the day. But the biggest boost to the STOXX 600 came from healthcare firms, which rose 0.3%, helped by a 4.9% jump in Bavarian Nordic after the vaccine maker signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense.

Some China-focused luxury firms such as LVMH and Kering were a drag on the main index on news that China is expecting a peak in COVID-19 infections within a week. The tech sector fell 0.3%, bogged down by losses in chip stocks such as Aixtron and ASML Holding .