European Shares

Hopes of a trade truce between the United States and China this month fuelled the optimism, with some more details being filled in on what's expected to be a "phase one" agreement.

MILAN (Reuters) - European shares dipped in early dealing on Friday, weighed down by disappointing trading updates from fashion brands H&M and Ferragamo and continued weakness among banking stocks.

Traders said markets will likely remain quiet before the much awaited Fed meeting

While political uncertainty in Germany did not have a broader market impact there were some stocks in the energy sector that were affected with rising European shares

Stocks gains were also underpinned by strong earnings that boosted bank shares such as UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland, while tech stocks gained following upbeat earnings reports from US giants

Asian stocks wilted in line with Wall Street overnight

Booker shares hit a record high and were the top gainer, up more than 15 percent

The move dragged down other high street retailers with UK exposure

Energy shares were also in demand after oil prices also rose on a weaker dollar

Economists expect US non-farm payrolls to have increased by 180,000 jobs last month

Analysts said however that investors were reluctant to place strong bets ahead of a slew of US economic data this week

Sweden's Nibe jumped 4.3 per cent after reporting a pretax profit just above forecast

K&S fell to a three year low, with the potash firm down 12 per cent since results were announced last week

Also in Germany, shares of SAP and Adidas climbed to record highs

Danish telecoms company TDC gained 5.8 per cent after posting a strong Q2 report

Shares in Altice surged more than 10 per cent after the company said that second-quarter core operating profit grew 2.7 per cent

STOXX Europe 600 Bank index advanced 1 per cent, helped by a 2.8 per cent rise at Barclays

Oil fell again, with US crude dipping below $40 a barrel as a supply glut weighed on prices

Banks were also under pressure, with the European banking index down 1% and Italian banks falling nearly 2%