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JUST ABOUT HIGHER

There's less than half an hour left of stock market trading in Europe, and it has been yet another eventful week - various central bank decisions and developments around the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding come to mind. Especially the latter will certainly stay top of mind for investors heading into the weekend and when trading resumes Monday.

But for now, Europe's STOXX 600 index .STOXX is on track to eke out an around 0.5% weekly rise, its second consecutive week of gains.

On the day, it is 0.15% lower, with mining stocks .SXPP down 2%. Oil and gas stocks .SXEP meanwhile are 1.4% higher, with Brent crude futures LCOc1 little changed on the day.

Beyond U.S.-Iran negotiations, one thing to watch in the coming days and weeks will be the domestic political situation in the UK. After winning a key local election Andy Burnham could soon challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer and ignite a leadership battle. Depending on how that goes, markets may have some thoughts, and worries, especially around fiscal policy.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE is down 0.36% on the day.

PPHE Hotel Group PPH.L shares are down over 15% , having recouped some earlier losses, after the company said a £920.9 million ($1.2 billion) takeover proposal from Israel's Fattal Hotel Group has fallen through after opposition from the Amsterdam-headquartered company's biggest shareholder.

(Sophie Kiderlin)

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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

A BLURRING GROWTH-VALUE DIVIDE CLICK HERE

BACK TO THE BEFORE? CLICK HERE

MONETARY POLICY'S NEW ERA CLICK HERE

BURNHAM BY-ELECTION IN THE BAG: WHAT IT MEANS FOR MARKETS CLICK HERE

EUROPEAN SHARES SET FOR POSITIVE WEEK CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: RELIEF RALLY SET FOR PAUSE CLICK HERE

WHAT A GREAT WEEK FOR PEACE CLICK HERE