European shares eked out modest gains on Friday and were set to finish the week higher, driven by an improving corporate earnings outlook and reduced near-term fears over artificial intelligence disrupting established business models. At 08:14 GMT the pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2% at 626.64 points, trading close to its all-time high, with most national benchmarks also posting advances.
Luxury apparel group Moncler (MI:MONC) led individual movers after the company reported a 7% increase in fourth-quarter revenue, with particularly strong growth across Asia and the Americas. The stock rallied 13% on the report, helping lift the broader luxury sector by 1.2%.
Consumer-focused areas also performed well. The personal and household goods sector rose 1.3% and was the top sectoral gainer after Deutsche Bank upgraded its view on European staples from "cautious" to "neutral."
Not all names participated in the rally. French liquefied natural gas containment specialist GTT declined 3.3% after its annual revenue slightly undershot expectations.
For the STOXX 600 the week’s activity was shaping up to be its largest weekly advance since early January, as investors grew more comfortable with the trend in corporate earnings and pushed immediate concerns about disruptive AI models to the background. That said, headline geopolitical developments continued to attract attention - global markets were monitoring events in the oil-rich Middle East after a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that Iran must reach a deal over its nuclear program or face "really bad things."
Separately, tools that evaluate individual stocks were referenced by market participants. One such product, ProPicks AI, is described as assessing Moncler alongside thousands of other companies using more than 100 financial metrics. The service is said to apply AI-driven screening to identify opportunities based on fundamentals, momentum and valuation, and highlights past winners including Super Micro Computer (+185%) and AppLovin (+157%). The promotional note invites readers to check whether Moncler features in any ProPicks AI strategies or to explore other opportunities in the same sector.
Overall, markets advanced on a mix of corporate updates and analyst upgrades, while geopolitical developments and specific company misses provided areas of caution for investors.