(Reuters) – European shares dipped on Friday, but remained on course for their biggest weekly percentage jump in over three months on hopes that easing inflation would allow the Federal Reserve could halt its interest rate hikes soon.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.2% by 0702 GMT.
Still, the index has gained 2.9% this week, on track for its best week since the end of March and nearly recouping all of the last week’s losses.
Data on U.S. consumer and producer prices earlier this week stoked speculation that the economy had entered a disinflation phase and the Fed could pause its tightening soon after July.
Keeping the STOXX 600 under pressure on Friday was a 0.6% drop in telecom firms, with Nokia falling 5.3% after lowering its full-year results outlook.
Its Swedish rival Ericsson fell 4.2% after reporting a 62% fall in second-quarter adjusted operating profit.
Miners, among the biggest gainers this week, also fell 0.6%.
(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Savio D’Souza)
