European shares rise on signs of easing Sino-US trade tensions

European shares surged on Friday as signs of a potential de-escalation of trade tensions between the U.S. and China lifted risk sentiment while investors assess a flurry of corporate earnings and await key economic data.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.9%, as of 0704 GMT after registering its second consecutive monthly drop on Wednesday. Other regional indexes were also trading in positive territory.

China's Commerce Ministry said that Beijing was "evaluating" an offer from Washington to hold talks over U.S. President Donald Trump's 145% tariffs and that Beijing's door was open for discussions.

However, China said Washington needed to show "sincerity" in negotiations and should be prepared to cancel its unilateral tariffs.

Shell SHEL.L rose 2.3% after the oil giant reported a 28% drop in first-quarter net profit but beat analyst expectations.

Standard Chartered STAN.L rose 1.7% after the bank reported a 10% quarterly profit rise.

Danske Bank DANSKE.CO rose 3.9% after Denmark's biggest lender kept its 2025 profit outlook unchanged as it reported forecast-beating first-quarter profits.

Airbus AIR.PA rose 3.6% after the planemaker topped quarterly estimates across the board and reaffirmed its annual outlook.

In U.S., Apple AAPL.O on Thursday cut its share buyback programme by $10 billion and warned that tariffs could add about $900 million in costs this quarter.

Investors will also be on the lookout for April flash inflation data for euro zone as well as April manufacturing PMI data for France and Germany expected on Friday. U.S. nonfarm payrolls data is also due later in the day.