European Markets Bounced Back After Yesterday's Sharp Sell-Off

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session solidly in positive territory, following the steep losses of the previous day. Yesterday's sell-off was sparked by the prospect that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in June. The minutes of the most recent Federal Reserve meeting, which were released after the European close on Wednesday, strongly hinted that a rate increase is possible.

Markets around the globe are in recovery mode at the end of the trading week. The positive performance of the Asian markets got investors in a positive mood and the momentum has continued to build from there. Commodity prices have also stabilized Friday, following the weakness of the last few days.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 1.47 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 1.11 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 1.23 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 1.67 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 1.70 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 1.12 percent.

In Frankfurt, automaker Daimler rose 0.75 percent after its truck division lowered its 2016 financial forecast, citing slowing sales.

Lanxess advanced 2.44 percent. The specialty chemicals company said it is seeking to increase the dividend or at least maintain it at a stable level.

Fresenius increased 2.03 percent and Fresenius Medical Care rose 2.04 percent.

In Paris, Technip dropped 3.28 percent. The stock surged yesterday after it agreed to merge with U.S. rival FMC Technologies in an all-stock deal.

In London, Bottling company Coca-Cola HBC jumped 6.22 percent after Citigroup raised its rating on the stock.

Precision instruments maker Spectris sank 4.35 percent after reporting a 4 percent decline in like-for-like sales in the period from January 1 to April 30.

Homebuilders turned in a solid performance at the end of the trading week. Barratt Development climbed 3.94 percent and Berkeley Group gained 3.59 percent. Taylor Wimpey advanced 3.84 percent and Persimmon added 3.11 percent.

Luxury goods group Richemont dropped 4.30 percent in Zurich after the company said it remains doubtful of any meaningful improvement in the trading environment in the near term.

UniCredit soared 7.59 percent in Milan on reports of possible asset sales.

The Eurozone current account surplus increased to a 4-month high in March, the European Central Bank said Friday. The current account surplus rose to EUR 27.3 billion in March from EUR 19.2 billion in February. This was the highest level since November.

Germany's producer prices continued to drop in April, figures from Destatis revealed Friday. Producer prices declined 3.1 percent in April from last year, the same pace of decrease as seen in March but slightly faster than the 3 percent fall forecast by economists.

British industrial orders improved slightly in May, the Industrial Trends Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Friday. The order balance rose to -8 percent in May from -11 percent in April. It was forecast to fall to -13 percent.

After reporting a significant rebound in U.S. existing home sales in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Friday showing that sales sustained the upward momentum in the month of April.

NAR said existing home sales climbed 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.45 million in April after jumping 5.7 percent to an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March. Economists had expected existing home sales to rise by about 1.3 percent to a rate of 5.40 million from the 5.33 million originally reported for the previous month.