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Nov 6 (Reuters) - European stocks struggled for momentum on Friday after a strong rally this week as Italy and France posted a record number of coronavirus cases, while the counting of U.S. election votes continued.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was down 0.1% by 0818 GMT after a five-day winning run that put the index on course for its best week since early April.
France, already under a national lockdown, set a daily record for COVID-19 cases for the second time in four days, and Italy also registered its highest ever daily tally on Thursday. weighing on the markets, technology .SX8P and healthcare .SXDP heavyweights fell after strong gains this week.
U.S. Democrat Joe Biden was moving closer to victory over Republican President Donald Trump in the race for White House, but the outcome was unclear with votes still being tallied and Trump falsely claiming the election was being "stolen" from him. .SXIP got a boost after Germany's Allianz ALVG.DE rose 2.8% after it reported an surprise 6% rise in third-quarter net profit. multi-billion dollar deal involving RSA RSA.L , Canadian insurer Intact Financial IFC.TO and Danish insurer Tryg TRYG.CO also lifted the sector.