German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, October 23, 2025. REUTERS/staff

By Sukriti Gupta

(Reuters) -European shares nudged lower on Friday, after briefly hitting record intraday highs as signs of easing U.S.-China trade conflicts and a raft of positive corporate earnings helped lift risk sentiment.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index edged 0.2% lower at 573.56 points, as of 0902 GMT. Other major regional indexes also traded lower.

The STOXX 600 index was on track for a weekly gain. It closed at a record high in the previous session, boosted by energy stocks after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on major Russian suppliers over Moscow's intensifying war with Ukraine.

Sentiment was buoyed after the White House confirmed on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart next week.

Both leaders will meet amid escalating tensions between the economic superpowers and an upcoming deadline for an additional 100% U.S. tariffs likely to be imposed on Chinese imports.

"There's some hope on the trade front", said Joost van Leenders, senior investment strategist at Dutch asset manager Van Lanschot Kempen, noting that the possibility of U.S.-China meeting supported markets. He also added that the improvement in the earnings dynamics is also helping.

Talking about the sudden decline in the market, Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index said, "this seems to be a little bit of caution ahead of the U.S. data release and profit-taking ahead of the weekend."

European utilities index lost nearly 1%, while real estate stocks declined 1.3%.

Technology stocks rose 0.9%, supported by a boost from Intel results.

On the data front, British retail sales unexpectedly climbed 0.5% in September.

The spotlight is on U.S. consumer price figures, due later in the day, for economic cues ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week.

Among European corporate updates, Sanofi rose 1.1% after its third-quarter profit beat analysts' expectations.

Shares of Saab gained 7.4% after the defence group raised its full-year forecast on organic sales growth.

NatWest rose 2% after the lender reported a higher third-quarter profit and upgraded its performance target for the year.

Investment company Lifco jumped 7.8%, to top the STOXX 600 index, on upbeat third-quarter results.

Bucking the positive mood, Signify dropped 4.6% after the world's biggest lighting maker reported a steeper-than-expected drop in its third-quarter sales.

Hiab slumped 13.8% after the engineering group reported third-quarter results below forecasts.

A survey signalled that euro zone business activity unexpectedly grew at a faster pace in October.

Another survey showed Germany's private sector recorded its strongest growth in nearly 2-1/2 years in October.

(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)