France has 57 reactors that supply round-the-clock low-carbon electricity to more than three-quarters of the country's population and more than 250 of its industrial energy users at 530 sites

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 1.4%

The Nord Stream 2 operating company has declined to give any guidance on the schedule for completing the pipeline, saying only that it was "actively looking for solutions" to finish the pipelaying work.

The German government expects the economy, which has traditionally been dependent on exports, is expected to shrink by a post-World War Two record of 6.3% despite a massive rescue package of 750 billion euros to cushion the impact of the pandemic.

Shell and Eneco are participating in the tender for Hollandse Kust (noord) through their joint venture CrossWind.

The Saint-Brieuc wind farm will be constructed some 16 kilometres (9.94 miles) off the coast of Brittany. It will be equipped with 62 units of 8-MW turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA (BME:SGRE).

The supplies were the lowest since October last year when Norway delivered just 7.39 Bcm to the UK and Continental Europe.

Sterling rose 0.2% against the weaker dollar, at $1.2443. As the euro also strengthened versus the dollar, the pound was down around 0.3% versus the euro at 87.335 pence.

The pan-European STOXX 600 held at a near seven-week high with a 0.7% gain,

Germany's economy shrank by 1.9% in the first three months of 2020

The U.S. dollar was weaker against the Japanese yen and the euro

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 1.5%, following gains in Asian markets after the Bank of Japan pledged to buy unlimited amount of bonds to keep borrowing costs low.

“As of today, in the European Union, we’re on course for a 5% to 10% (recession), meaning it’s about 7.5%. But that is today, and if things don’t improve and if we have a second peak (of the outbreak), things could get worse”, Breton said.

EBRD shareholders agreed to a comprehensive series of response and recovery measures that strengthen the Bank’s Solidarity Package , which was first unveiled on 13 March. The Bank now stands ready to provide support worth €21 billion over the 2020-21 period.

the euro weakened after a European Union meeting on Thursday to build a trillion euro emergency fund