(Reuters) - European shares were on course for a sixth straight weekly gain on Friday, following a record close on Wall Street as bullish comments from a White House official on a U.S.-China trade deal boosted trade-sensitive miners, technology stocks and automakers.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (STOXX) gained 0.4% by 0819 GMT, inching back to a four-year high hit last week.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said late on Thursday Washington and Beijing were getting close to a trade agreement, citing what he called very constructive talks with Beijing about ending a 16-month trade war.
Miners (SXPP) were the top gainers on the day, up about 1.5%, followed by technology stocks (SX8P).
Shares in chipmakers Infineon (DE:IFXGn), STMicroelectronics (BN:STM) and ASML Holding (AS:ASML) rose between 0.8% and 1%, after industry bellwether Applied Materials (O:AMAT) forecast a strong first quarter ahead of the 5G rollout in key markets.
Telecom shares (SXKP) were boosted by a 2.5% gain in Orange (PA:ORAN) after France's biggest telecoms operator said it was preparing to split its mobile towers unit into a separate company.