(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
Nov 6 (Reuters) - European stocks struggled for momentum on
Friday after a strong rally this week as Italy and France posted
a record number of coronavirus cases, while the counting of U.S.
election votes continued.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was down 0.1% by
0818 GMT after a five-day winning run that put the index on
course for its best week since early April.
France, already under a national lockdown, set a daily
record for COVID-19 cases for the second time in four days, and
Italy also registered its highest ever daily tally on Thursday.
Also weighing on the markets, technology .SX8P and
healthcare .SXDP heavyweights fell after strong gains this
week.
U.S. Democrat Joe Biden was moving closer to victory over
Republican President Donald Trump in the race for White House,
but the outcome was unclear with votes still being tallied and
Trump falsely claiming the election was being "stolen" from him.
Insurers .SXIP got a boost after Germany's Allianz
ALVG.DE rose 2.8% after it reported an surprise 6% rise in
third-quarter net profit. A multi-billion dollar deal involving RSA RSA.L , Canadian
insurer Intact Financial IFC.TO and Danish insurer Tryg
TRYG.CO also lifted the sector.