French chemicals group Rhodia rose 2.3% after it swung to a net profit of 71 million euros helped by a 34 million euro gain from deferred tax assets.

Oil and gold

Oil prices steadied Friday after jumping above $61 a barrel the previous day in reaction the leadership change in the U.S. Congress and amid continued uncertainties about OPEC production cuts. The contract traded at $60.32 a barrel in early trading in London, near a two-week high. Brent crude fell 84 cents to $60.48 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Gold opened Friday at a bid price of $634.30 a troy ounce, up from $625.20 late Thursday.

Currencies

The euro continued to edge up slightly against the U.S. dollar on Friday despite better-than-expected U.S. trade deficit figures. In morning trading, the euro bought $1.2873, up from $1.2824 late Thursday in New York. Among other currencies, the British pound rose to $1.9117 from $1.9055 after the Bank of England raised interest rates to 5%, as was expected. The dollar was down slightly to purchase 117.43 Japanese yen from 117.97 yen.