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Aug 16 (Reuters) - European shares churned higher on Friday,
boosted by positive sentiment after China hinted on plans to
spur economic growth while chipmaker stocks in the region
propped up markets, helped by solid earnings news from U.S.
counterparts.
But overall gains were not baked in as the London Stock
Exchange LSE.L said on Friday it was investigating a technical
glitch, which delayed the open of the UK blue-chip FTSE 100
.FTSE and FTSE midcap .FTMC indexes.
China's state planner said it will roll out a plan to boost
disposable income this year and in 2020 to encourage consumption
as the economy slows. The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was 0.7% higher by
0742 GMT, with the trade-sensitive DAX index .GDAXI
outperforming.
The benchmark index was still on pace to log a third
straight week of losses, as mounting worries of a global
recession sparked in part by the long-drawn U.S.-China trade
war, kept investors on the edge.
Leading the charge on the STOXX 600 was a rally in
semiconductor companies, which pushed the technology sector
.SX8P up 1.2% - with AMS AMS.S , Infineon Tech IFXGn.DE and
STMicroelectronics STM.MI making substantial gains.
Better-than-expected results from gaming chip maker Nvidia
NVDA.O and chip gear maker Applied Materials AMAT.O
overnight helped reinforce the rally.