By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks edged higher Friday, but
the region's benchmark remained on track for a weekly decline.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1% at 342.24. It still faces
a 1.6% fall for the week, which would be the biggest weekly
pullback since mid-April, according to FactSet data.
Shares of Barclays PLC (BCS) were up 1.5% after the shares on
Thursday dropped 6.5% to 19-month low on U.S. legal problems.
Reports said Barclays Chief Executive Antony Jenkins said in a
staff memo Thursday that the bank will conduct an internal probe
following accusations of fraud in a lawsuit filed by the New York
Attorney General.
Late Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that major
brokers are closing their connections to a dark pool run by
Barclays in the wake of the lawsuit, according to people familiar
with the matter.
Decliners were led by Ophir Energy , down 4.4% following a
downgrade to neutral from buy at UBS, according to Dow Jones
Newswires. The British oil exploration company on Thursday issued a
disappointing update about a dry well in offshore Gabon.
Among country indexes, U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% to
6,754.14, France's CAC 40 index rose 0.3% to 4,453, and Germany's
DAX 30 equity index picked up 0.2% to 9,828.90.
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