European shares tick higher as earnings hold the spotlight

Saab shares pop 10%

Shares of Saab were last seen trading 10% higher, after the company reported stronger-than-expected profit and sales growth for the second quarter.

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European shares open higher

We're around 15 minutes into the final session of the week, and European stocks are broadly moving higher as trading kicks off.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was last seen 0.3% higher, with most sectors in positive territory.

Among major bourses, the French CAC 40 is leading gains on a jump of 0.5%.

Germany's DAX and London's FTSE 100 were last seen trading 0.3% and 0.1% higher, respectively.

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Defense giant Saab reports profit beat amid ‘large interest in products’

Swedish defense giant Saab reported stronger-than-expected second operating income of 1.98 billion Swedish krona ($200 million) this morning.

It marks a 49% jump from the same period a year ago, and beat the 1.71 billion krona expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

Quarterly sales rose by a better-than-expected 30% year on year.

“We are strengthening our market position and see a continued large interest in our products and solutions,” Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab, said in a statement alongside the results. “Saab's sales growth is high and we continue to invest to build capacity and meet long-term strong demand from the defence sector.”

Saab manufactures a range of military hardware including fighter systems, weaponry and submarines.

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Burberry sales saw smaller-than-expected decline in first quarter

Burberry's comparable store sales fell by a smaller than expected 1% in its fiscal first quarter, as the luxury fashion house touted its turnaround strategy as “positioning the business for a return to sustainable, profitable growth.”

Analysts had been expecting a year-on-year decline of 3%, according to news agency Reuters.

During the same period a year ago, comparable sales fell by 21% year on year.

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EU-U.S. trade agreement framework was ‘close’ before 30% tariff threat

Michal Baranowski, Polish undersecretary of state at the ministry of economic development and technology, has been speaking to CNBC this morning about the European Union's trade negotiations with the Trump administration.

Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump sent the bloc a letter informing officials that he would slap 30% tariffs on EU goods starting from August.

“On the big picture, we were close before we received this letter,” Baranowski told CNBC's “Europe Early Edition.”

“It is bit of a rollercoaster negotiations for everyone. So, I would say that we are certainly close but, of course, we will be there only until we can actually put some things on paper.”

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What to watch today

It's another busy day on the earnings front, with Danske Bank, Saab, Skanska and Burberry among the regional companies set to update investors on their finances.

As for economic data, Germany will release its June producer price index figures, Italian construction output figures are due, and Spain will publish its latest balance of trade figures.

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Here‘s what’s moving markets

Optimistic sentiment on the U.S. economy has been fueling a flurry of positive trading across the globe. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 closed at am all-time high on Thursday, while the Nasdaq Composite also hit a record high.

Better-than-expected earnings from Netflix, PepsiCo, United Airlines also helped lift U.S. indexes higher.

Overnight in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian stocks reached a record high after rising unemployment figures fueled bets of a rate cut from the country's central bank. Investors in the region were also reacting to a cooling inflation print out of Japan.

In Europe, investors are still monitoring trade tensions between the European Union and the United States.

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Opening calls

Good morning from London.

European stocks look set to move higher at Friday's opening bell. Futures tied to the Euro Stoxx 50 were last seen 0.35% higher.

Those tied to Germany's DAX index are around 0.45% higher, while futures tied to London's FTSE 100 were last seen up by 0.3%.

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