European equities edged lower on Friday with telecoms stocks leading losses, though a rise in tech stocks helped put the index on track for gains in a week in which oil prices fell and several global central banks announced interest rate decisions.
The pan-European STOXX 600 dipped 0.2% to 641.57 points by 0717 GMT, after rising more than 1% in the last two sessions, hovering around one-week highs.
The benchmark STOXX index was set for its first weekly gain in three in a week packed with interest rate decisions from several central banks around the world including the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.
Telecommunication shares dipped 1.8% early on. Deutsche Telekom and Airtel Africa were down 3.1% and 4.8%, respectively.
Food and beverages lost 1% as Nestle dipped 1.2% after Russia seized control of the local assets of the Swiss food major.
Energy shares shed 0.5% as oil prices fell for a third day on hopes of limited Saudi supply disruptions, but remained over the $100-per-barrel level. [O/R]
Helping offset some losses, technology shares gained 0.9%, with chip-related companies Aixtron and Infineon Technologies leading gains.
(Reporting by Sudeshna Ghoshal in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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