The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 1.3% but was barely higher for the week. The index was down nearly 2% on Thursday while retailers lost 3.2%.
Mining stocks led gains 4% up on Friday, with most sectors and major exchanges in the black. Travel shares also rose, up 1.3% after it was revealed that the UK was easing some of its quarantine rules.
The UK government said double vaccinated people are allowed to travel without self-isolating on their return unless they are traveling from a high risk country. The government also said it was working to lift quarantine rules for double-vaccinated people visiting the UK
Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Friday on renewed Covid concerns. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 drove losses among the region’s major markets as it fell 1.7% in afternoon trading while the Topix index lost 1.48%.
On Wall Street, major US averages rose on Friday, rebounding from the previous session’s losses.
Olympic Games organizers will ban viewers from the upcoming Tokyo Summer Games after Japan declared a state of emergency in the city on Thursday as the country sees rising Covid-19 cases. The state of emergency lasts until August 22nd.
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Back in Europe, the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet in Venice, Italy, to discuss taxes and economic recovery.
On the data front, Flash GDP data showed the UK economy grew more slowly than expected in May, up 0.8% from the previous month.
In individual titles, Porsche rose 6.1% to the top of the Stoxx 600, while Demant fell 9.3%.
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– CNBC’s Eustance Huang contributed to this report.
