European Markets Climbed On Optimism For Greek Deal

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session firmly in positive territory. Investor optimism for an agreement on Greece was the driving force behind the gains. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has agreed to submit a list of reforms within days. EU leaders sought more concrete steps on reforms and efforts to overcome the standstill on the aid programme.

Merkel and other key leaders met Tsipras on the sidelines of the two-day EU summit on Thursday night. Tsipras said he is more optimistic after the meeting and talks are back on track. All sides are doing their best to overcome Greece's troubles, he told reporters. Merkel said no disbursement of fund will be made unless Athens implements budget measures. Merkel is set to meet Tsipras again in Berlin on Monday.

"In the spirit of mutual trust, we are all committed to speed up the work and conclude it as fast as possible," the EU leaders said in a statement on Friday.

"Within the framework of the Eurogroup agreement of 20 February 2015, the Greek authorities will have the ownership of the reforms and will present a full list of specific reforms in the next days," it added.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased by 1.67 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 1.04 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed by 1.18 percent, but the CAC 40 of France rose by 1.00 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. gained 0.86 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.73 percent.

In Frankfurt, Evotec surged by 7.19 percent. The biotech firm has signed a definitive agreement with French drug maker Sanofi for a major multi-component strategic alliance over the next five years.

Nordex gained 2.84 percent. The wind turbines maker announced that it had bagged orders for 26 Generation Delta N131/3000 light-win turbines with a total capacity of 78MW in the first quarter.

Deutsche Bank increased by 2.27 percent and Commerzbank added 1.41 percent.

E.ON climbed by 2.21 percent and RWE finished up by 0.33 percent.

In Paris, Lafarge climbed by 2.12 percent, after they have reached an agreement with Swiss cement giant Holcim on revised terms for the merger of equals. Holcim gained 0.46 percent in Zurich.

Societe Generale gained 1.37 percent and BNP Paribas climbed by 1.93 percent. Credit Agricole also rose by 1.40 percent.

Total increased by 2.50 percent and Technip added 1.90 percent.

In London, Tesco rose by 0.84 percent. The supermarket chain announced that it has regained sole ownership of 21 superstores in a transaction with British Land Co Plc.

Tullow Oil increased by 3.46 percent. The company announced that it had raised an additional $450 million of capital from lenders.

CRH finished higher by 5.08 percent, after Holcim and Lafarge agreed on a revised merger deal. CRH previously agreed to acquire assets from both companies as part of the merger.

Mining stocks turned in a positive performance after a rebound in commodity prices. Fresnillo rose by 4.17 percent and Anglo American gained 5.21 percent. BHP Billiton climbed by 3.60 percent and Glencore advanced by 4.74 percent. Rio Tinto also increased by 2.42 percent.

Eurozone current account surplus in January grew from a year ago, as trade surplus and primary income rose sharply, figures from the European Central Bank revealed Friday. The current account surplus rose to EUR 29.4 billion from EUR 18.1 billion a year ago. In December, the surplus was EUR 22.5 billion.

A measure of turning points in the German economy in coming months grew at a slower rate in January, data from the Conference Board showed Friday. The leading economic index for Germany rose 0.4 percent monthly after a 0.8 percent climb in the previous month. In the six months to January, the index added 0.3 points, moving back into positive territory for the first time since June 2014.

Germany's producer prices dropped more-than-expected in February, figures from Destatis showed Friday. The producer price index fell 2.1 percent year-over-year in February, exceeding economists' expectations for a 2.0 percent drop.

The U.K. budget deficit showed its smallest budget deficit for February since 2008 on robust income tax receipts suggesting that the government is on the course to achieve its budget targets. Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks declined by GBP 3.5 billion to GBP 6.9 billion in February, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. It was forecast to fall to GBP 8.4 billion.

The majority of the households in the UK perceived that the value of their houses increased in March, after moderating in the previous month, results of a survey conducted by Knight Frank and Markit Economics showed Friday. The house price sentiment index, or HPSI, rose to 57.5 in March from 56.5 in February. This marked the twenty-fourth consecutive month of the index remaining above 50.