Market Analysis

European shares edged higher on Friday, marking their fourth consecutive session of gains, as they nearly erased all the losses incurred at the start of the week when fears of a U.S. recession sparked a global sell-off.

By 0708 GMT, the STOXX 600 index had risen by 0.3%, with a U.S. jobs report released overnight further easing investor concerns about the state of the world's largest economy.

This four-session rally, the longest in nearly three months, reduced the pan-European index's weekly loss to a negligible 0.02%.

The basic resources sector saw a 1.4% increase, bolstered by rising base metal prices following the release of U.S. economic data.

Overnight, data revealed that U.S. jobless claims had fallen more than expected last week, alleviating concerns about a weakening labor market.

These concerns were initially triggered by a dismal U.S. nonfarm payroll report, which led to a global market sell-off on Monday. However, subsequent economic data and remarks from U.S. central bank officials have helped to allay those fears.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.