(Reuters) – European shares opened higher on Friday as gains were led by defensive healthcare stocks at the end of a week dominated by major central bank policy decisions.
The continent-wide European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2% at 0717 GMT, with the healthcare index up 0.5%.
The STOXX 600 had ended Thursday lower after the European Central Bank (ECB) raised borrowing costs and signalled more policy tightening in its fight against sticky inflation, a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hawkish pause.
In contrast, the Bank of Japan maintained ultra-easy monetary policy on Friday despite stronger-than-expected inflation, signalling it will remain a dovish outlier among global central banks.
Rate-sensitive technology shares dipped 0.1%.
Shares of Britain’s biggest supplier of building materials Travis Perkins slid 7.4% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after it warned profit would be hit by difficulties in the country’s housing market.
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami)