FX168 Financial News (North America)European stock markets closed higher on Friday as investors assessed global economic indicators and rising confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index earned a record high for the tenth consecutive day, closing up 0.99 points, or 0.21%, at 475.83.

Germany's DAX30 index closed up 39.93 points, or 0.25%, at 15977.44, up 1.37% this week.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 25.48 points, or 0.35%, at 7218.71.

The French CAC40 index closed up 13.57 points, or 0.20%, at 6896.04.

The European Stoxx 50 index closed up 3.82 points, or 0.09%, at 4230.15.

Spain's IBEX35 index closed up 19.60 points, or 0.22%, at 8999.00.

Italy's FTSE MIB index closed up 94.72 points, or 0.36%, at 26652.56.

Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region fell on Friday, with the South Korean Composite Index (KOSPI) suffering its biggest weekly decline since February, as shares of companies linked to the company tumbled after the release of the heir to the Samsung Group.

In the United States, the S & P 500 and the Dow are expected to continue to hit record highs on Friday.

"it can be said that the market is now more concerned about the COVID-19 epidemic, especially the spread of the Delta variant," Xian Chan, chief investment officer of wealth management at HSBC, said in a report.

"but wherever you look, the general view (and hope) is that widespread vaccination will sustain the economic recovery in the second half of this year."

In terms of individual stocks, Addlife, a Swedish healthcare company, rose 4.1 per cent.

In the European bond market, the yield on German 10-year bonds fell 0.7 basis points to-0.467%, down 1.1 basis points this week, while the yield on Italian 10-year bonds rose 0.2 basis points to 0.546%.

German sportswear company Adidas has announced the sale of Reebok to US brand management and marketing company Authentic Brands Group (ABG) for 2.1 billion euros ($2.5 billion). The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. Adidas shares rose 2.3% on Friday.

Shares in Ipsen, the French pharmaceutical leader, tumbled 12.7 per cent to the bottom of the Euronext 600 index after it withdrew an application for a new drug in the US.