On Friday European stocks climbed, extending the Stoxx Europe 600 Index’s rally from a two-year low, as France, Spain, Italy and Belgium imposed short-selling bans. Asian shares fell and U.S. futures fluctuated.

The Stoxx 600 jumped 1.7% to 234.52 at 11:35 a.m. in London, even as the benchmark measure headed for a weekly loss of 1.8%. France, Spain, Italy and Belgium imposed bans on short-selling from today to stabilize markets after Societe Generale SA dropped to its lowest price since March 2009 on the 10th August.

National regulators imposed the bans “to restrict the benefits that can be achieved from spreading false rumors or to achieve a regulatory level playing field,” the European Securities and Markets Authority, which coordinates the work of national regulators in the 27-nation European Union, said in a statement after talks ended late on Thursday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet in Paris on the 16th August after concern that the sovereign-debt crisis will spread to the region’s larger economies rattled the French stock market. France’s gross domestic product was unchanged from the first quarter, when it rose 0.9%, the Insee statistics office said in Paris.

Industrial production in the euro area unexpectedly fell in June, led by a drop in capital goods such as machinery, adding to signs the economy is losing momentum as governments struggle to contain the debt crisis. Production slipped 0.7% from May, when it rose 0.2%, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said. Economists had forecast output to remain unchanged.

Japanese stocks declined, extending losses on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average for a third week, after the government cut its forecast for the country’s economic growth and as concern grew Europe’s debt crisis will spread.