European equities opened the week higher on Aug. 17, with the Stoxx 50 rising about 0.3% near record highs, the STOXX 600 gaining around 0.2% to 659.30 points and Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.1% at 10,757.91 by 1022 GMT, putting it on track to end a six-session losing streak. Mining shares led gains as copper and gold prices strengthened, while technology stocks also advanced. Sentiment was supported by a weaker dollar and softer U.S. economic data, including an unexpected fall in retail sales, which reduced expectations of an imminent Federal Reserve rate hike. Investors also looked ahead to UK labour-market and inflation data for clues on the Bank of England's policy path, while remaining cautious over tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and the wider U.S.-Iran conflict. Among individual stocks, argenx jumped more than 7% after positive topline Phase 3 results for efgartigimod, ASML gained more than 2.5%, AstraZeneca rose after saying two late-stage lung cancer trials met key goals while it discontinued another Phase 3 study, and Rolls-Royce advanced after Morgan Stanley and Citigroup raised their price targets.