European shares rose in early trading on Friday, helped by positive growth figures from Germany, while L’Oreal rallied after posting forecast-beating sales growth.
However, shares in ArcelorMittal bucked the trend, dipping 1 per cent after the world’s largest producer of steel said its profit would fall in 2015, rather than improve as expected, as iron ore prices sapped mining earnings and steel market growth cooled from last year.
At 0803 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.2 per cent at 1,497.53 points, hitting a new seven-year high.