KBC Group gains on Morgan Stanley upgrade
Avanza rises after Q4 results beat
German producer prices fall more than expected in Dec

Jan 19 Reuters European shares rose on Friday, boosted by gains in financials, although the benchmark index remained on course for a weekly decline after investors tempered their ratecut expectations.

The panEuropean STOXX 600 index was up 0.4 as of 0925 GMT, extending gains from the previous session.

Banks rose 0.4, propped up by an over 2 jump in KBC Group after Morgan Stanley raised the Belgian integrated bankinsurance group39;s rating to overweight from equalweight.

Sweden39;s Avanza jumped 3.3 and was among top performers on the STOXX 600, after the financial services provider39;s fourthquarter results beat market expectations.

Still, hawkish remarks from European Central Bank policymakers prompted traders to scale back their bets of an interest rate cut, putting the benchmark index on course for a weekly loss of around 1. 0ECBWATCH

The outlook for inflation is maybe a bit more sticky than perhaps we all hoped at the end of 2023, which doesn39;t come as a huge surprise, said James Baxter, founder of Tideway Wealth.

So it was just a rather exuberant sell off in gilt and bonds, which is now reversing and that39;s taking some of the edge off the market rally.

German producer prices fell more than expected in December, decreasing 8.6 yearonyear, although the bluechip DAX 40 index was up 0.4.

Separately, British retail sales…