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France, Germany outpace EU indexes on relief

London - French and German stocks outperformed skittish European bourses on Friday after data showed Germany narrowly avoided recession in the third quarter and France grew more than expected.

The data, which put the eurozone on course for anaemic growth but no contraction, mitigated bearish market expectations on the euro bloc and set a more positive backdrop ahead of inflation data at 10:00 GMT.

Germany's DAX and France's CAC indexes were 0.2% and 0.3% higher, respectively, at 08:34 GMT, outperforming the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which traded 0.1% lower at 1 345.64 points, and Britain's FTSE , also down 0.1%.

The FTSE, the only major European index to eye a large percentage gain for the week, was weighed down by energy stocks such as BP and Shell as Brent crude held near a four-year low just above $77 a barrel.

Oil prices have been hit by concerns over excess supply and uncertainty over whether OPEC would cut output at a meeting in two weeks.

"A slight pick-up in economic growth and the inflation data could push the (DAX and CAC) past the FTSE, which has been doing a little bit better," Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets, said.

Also supporting the CAC, French conglomerate Bouygues rose 4% after it raised its full-year sales forecast on Friday on the back of better-than-expected sales in the third quarter.

Paris-listed Airbus Group, up 3.2%, reported a stronger-than-expected nine-month underlying operating profit, led by its planemaking and helicopter divisions.

Away from results, Norwegian media firm Schibsted surged 26% after it said it would join forces with South Africa's Naspers, Singapore Press Holdings and Norway's Telenor to accelerate its e-commerce business in Brazil and other emerging markets.

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