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* Miners jump after positive China data
* German economy suffers worst contraction since 2009 in Q1
* Wirecard slumps to lowest in two years
(For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon
news window)
By Sruthi Shankar
May 15 (Reuters) - European stocks closed higher on Friday,
but marked their worst weekly losses since mid-March as rising
U.S.-China tensions added to concerns that a global economic
downturn may be here longer than feared.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.5% higher,
with miners rising 2.8% after data showed China's
industrial production climbed by a faster-than-expected 3.9% in
April.
European shares lost some ground by afternoon trading as
Washington acted to block shipments of semiconductors to Huawei
Technologies from global chipmakers, in an action
ramping up trade tensions with China again.
Global stock markets have largely stalled this month after a
solid rebound in April on fears of a possible resurgence in
COVID-19 cases as countries ease restrictions and a worrying
outlook from U.S. officials on economic recovery.
The STOXX 600 recorded a 3.8% weekly loss, while most
regional indexes also saw their biggest weekly drop in two
months when coronavirus-induced selling peaked.
"The market is torn between stimulus, new infections and
economic data," Keith Temperton at Tavira Securities said. "The
data is bad, but the stimulus is outweighing it for now. But I
don't imagine it's going to last."
Europe's semiconductor stocks took a hit in response to the
latest trade comments, with Germany's Dialog Semiconductor
and Siltronic falling 3.3% and 1%,
respectively.
Keeping Paris shares almost flat, chipmaker
STMicroelectronics fell 3%.
An early reading of Germany's first-quarter GDP showed that
Europe's largest economy contracted by 2.2% in the first
quarter, its steepest slump since the 2009 financial crisis,
with worse expected by mid-year.
But euro zone finance ministers were holding a meeting by
teleconference to discuss fiscal measures designed to mitigate
the economic fallout. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz plans
a supplementary budget, which could involve taking on 100
billion euros ($108.25 billion) in extra debt, Der Spiegel
magazine reported.
Supporting market gains on Friday, German food-processing
equipment maker GEA Group jumped 10% after reporting
better-than-expected first quarter results and confirmed its
2020 forecast.
Britain's biggest telecoms group BT Group Plc gained
5.4% after a report that it was in talks to sell a stake in its
wholly owned network subsidiary, Openreach. But the company said
the report was "inaccurate" after markets closed.
Swiss drugmaker Roche edged up 1.8% after saying it
would start selling a new digital diagnostics product that may
simplify and accelerate screening of COVID-19 patients.
Luxury group Richemont fell 2% after reporting a 67%
fall in annual profit and said the impact of the coronavirus
could last up to three years.
German payments company Wirecard tumbled 7.6% to
hit a two-year low, with traders pointing to a tweet about a
business partner based in Dubai liquidating as a reason for the
fall. Wirecard later confirmed that Al Alam Solution Provider
was closing.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil
D'Silva and Timothy Heritage)
