By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
FTSE moves further into record territory
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks edged up Friday, moving
toward a weekly gain, with Greek equities bumped solidly higher as
officials said they're drawing up another plan for economic
reforms.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.1% to 401.09, nudging toward a
weekly advance of 1.1%. That would mark a seventh straight week of
gains, the longest winning streak since an eight-week run in
mid-2014.
Greek shares gained, with the Athex Composite up 2.6% to 742.56
as Greece's Prime Minister Alex Tsipras said a revamped list of
Greek economic-reform proposals
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-will-toughen-up-reforms-stick-to-agreed-plan-merkel-2015-03-20)
will be sent to European officials within days. Greece last month
agreed to a four-month extension of the country's 240-billion-euros
($256 billion) bailout, but progress on necessary reforms has been
slow and Greece is still tussling with its creditors.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the new list of proposals
needs to stretch beyond the previous suggested measures. Merkel and
Tsipras were slated to meet in Berlin on Monday.
On the Athex, Attica Bank SA shares jumped 8%, National Bank of
Greece SA rose 6.9% and Piraeus Bank SA gained 6.6%.
Germany's DAX 30 rose 0.5% to 11,963.60, as shares of Lanxess AG
topped advancers by rising 1.5%. The DAX was looking at its first
win after three sessions of declines, and was on track for a weekly
gain of 0.6%.
France's CAC 40 was up 0.1% to 5,043.74, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-edges-up-but-on-track-for-best-week-in-two-months-2015-03-20)
clung to a gain of 3 points at 6,965.37, enough to put it in
record-high territory.
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