European stock markets rose on Friday morning, training to recover from yesterday's poor performance and with gains led by mining companies, as investors digest positive data from the UK and Germany and await the real start of the corporate earnings season in the USA. With results from the banking giants.
The European STOXX 600 index advanced 0.78% to 508.43 points. The mining sub-index only jumped 2.8%, while the technology sub-index rose 0.7%.
In the United Kingdom, industrial production rose by 1.1% monthly in February, which surprised analysts who expected it to remain stable. Britain's GDP rose by 0.1% in the same period, a new sign that the country is emerging from recession. In Germany, it was confirmed that the annual rate of consumer inflation (CPI) slowed to 2.2% in March.
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The European Central Bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for the fifth time in a row, but also indicated that it may cut interest rates in June if there are more signs that euro zone inflation is heading towards the official target. 2% sustainable method
Both the euro and the pound are trading sharply lower against the dollar in morning trade, which tends to favor stocks of European exporters.
Investors in Europe are also awaiting earnings from major US banks today, including JP Morgan and Citigroup.
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The London Stock Exchange rose by 1.10%, the Paris Stock Exchange rose by 0.76%, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose by 0.76%. The cities of Milan, Madrid and Lisbon saw increases of 1%, 0.98% and 1.06%, respectively.
Among individual stocks, BP jumped nearly 3% in London, following reports that the British oil company was recently the target of a potential takeover by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of the United Arab Emirates.
