In Europe on Friday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.4 percent on the session and 1.6 percent on the week to close at 1,510.44. It was a new six-year high for the index.
Despite the gains, there were big losses for some. Software group SAP dropped 7.7 percent on the session to €39. The decline was blamed on new data showing that license sales were down. The report moved Goldman Sachs to take SAP off its “conviction buy” list and to reduce its target share price from €49 to €39. The decline, the largest for the software developer in over four years, led to a 4.5 percent decline over the week despite gains earlier in the week.
The oil sector was lower on the week after crude oil prices fell by more than 7 percent. Total was down 1 percent to €52.20, while OMV dropped 1.8 percent to €39.30 and Repsol YPF fell 3.1 percent to €25.22.
Another of the week’s losers was Carrefour. The French retailer dropped 5.5 percent on the session to €44.20 on broker downgrades after reports that sales were lower than had been anticipated in the fourth quarter. JP Morgan reduced its recommendation from “neutral” to “underweight” and Commerzbank lowered its rating from “buy” to “hold”. Both brokers also reduced Carrefour’s target share price.
Gainers included Deutsche Borse which added 7.7 percent to €148.75 during the week after it revelaed positive news from its Clearstream unit and as rumors circulated that it could merge with a US exchange operator.