European shares set for third straight weekly gain with focus on France

European shares were steady on Friday, and on track for a third straight weekly gain, as investors focused on French politics ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's expected announcement of a new prime minister.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was mostly flat at 571.2 points by 0906 GMT, headed for a 0.1% gain this week.

Automobiles climbed 0.7%, with Milan-listed shares of Stellantis gaining 1.6% after the automaker said its global vehicle shipments rose 13% year-on-year in the third quarter.

German rival Mercedes jumped 2.1% following its pre-close call on Thursday.

Real estate climbed 0.9%, on track to snap a four-day losing streak. Food & beverages rose 0.9%, on pace to extend gains to a fourth straight session.

On the downside, oil and gas shed 0.9% with France's Technip Energies down 5% after Exane BNP Paribas downgraded its rating on the energy infrastructure company to "neutral" from "outperform".

Basic resources slipped 0.8%, with ArcelorMittal down 2.9% after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the steelmaker to "neutral" from "buy".

Attention would be on France, where President Emmanuel Macron will convene a meeting of France's mainstream political parties ahead of a self-imposed deadline to name a new prime minister.

"From a short-term perspective, it will be a positive development for the French stock market because it removes some of the risk premium," said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

"It's just a case of how much of that is actually able to follow through into the medium term."

French blue chips are set for weekly declines as markets were rocked on Monday after Sebastien Lecornu, France's fifth prime minister in two years, tendered his and his government's resignation just hours after announcing the cabinet line-up.

Utilities and telecoms are on track to be one of the best performing sectors in Europe this week, while automobiles and retail are the laggards.

The STOXX hit a record high earlier this week as growing bets of softer monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve and unwavering AI optimism has lifted global benchmarks.

Among other movers, Germany's Energiekontor dropped 18.7% after the wind and solar park developer cut its 2025 earnings forecast.

Jyske Bank gained 4.4% after the Danish lender hiked its full-year guidance.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru and Amir Orusov in Gdansk; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Tasim Zahid)