STOXX 600 extends fall as Kering slumps, oil climbs

European stocks edged lower on Friday as ‌luxury firm Kering's shares slumped after results, while higher oil prices and political uncertainty in France added to the cautious mood.

The ‌pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.13% at 636.50 points ‌by 0718 GMT, after logging its biggest one-day drop in three weeks on Thursday and putting the index on course for a weekly ⁠decline. Kering ​slipped 10.4% ⁠after third-quarter sales at its flagship Gucci brand fell, undermining hopes of ⁠a recovery plan.

On the flip side, Holcim gained 5.2%. The Swiss cement ​maker raised its full-year earnings forecast after reporting better-than-expected quarterly ⁠sales and profit. Optimism over generally strong European earnings season has been ⁠overshadowed ​by concerns over social unrest in France, pushing the yield on its 10 year-benchmark note to a 24-year high ⁠this week, while a sell-off in AI linked stocks also weighed.

Oil ⁠prices, ⁠which also kept sentiment fragile, climbed more than 1% with Brent crude trading at multi-month ‌highs.