European Markets Climbed After Risk Appetite Improves

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session firmly in positive territory, recovering from yesterday's pullback. The risk appetite among investors increased after comments made late yesterday by Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Crude oil and metal prices recovered and stronger than expected German export data also contributed to the positive mood.

Bank stocks staged a strong recovery at the end of the trading week. Italian banks were particularly strong on reports that an Italian plan to help troubled banks could be ready as soon as Monday.

Remarks made by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen during a panel discussion with former Fed chairs Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker on Thursday provided a boost to investor sentiment.

Yellen described the "tremendous progress" that the U.S. economy has made since the financial crisis and shrugged off concerns about an economic bubble. The current Fed Chief noted that the central bank would still watch the economy very carefully as it makes future decisions about interest rates.

The Bank of France raised its growth estimate for the first quarter on the back of improved export demand for manufactured products and increased services activity that led to employment growth.

Gross domestic product likely increased 0.4 percent in the first quarter, which was slightly stronger than the 0.3 percent expected earlier, the Bank of France said in a monthly survey report Friday.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 1.41 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.98 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.96 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 1.35 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 1.10 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.72 percent.

In Frankfurt, digital publishing house Axel Springer jumped 7.98 percent after JP Morgan upgraded its rating on the stock to "Overweight" from "Neutral."

RWE increased 5.28 percent and peer E.ON added 2.29 percent.

Commerzbank climbed 3.11 percent and Deutsche Bank rose 1.60 percent.

ThyssenKrupp advanced 3.55 percent and Salzgitter gained 2.91 percent.

In Paris, Societe Generale climbed 2.56 percent, as European Union antitrust regulators cut the rate rigging fine imposed on the lender in December 2013.

Credit Agricole increased 2.32 percent and BNP Paribas added 1.41 percent.

Air France - KLM rose 1.95 percent. The airline reported a 3.2 percent improvement in passenger traffic, with a 1.3 percent increase in capacity for March 2016.

Total leaped 3.76 percent and Technip advanced 2.24 percent.

In London, Tullow Oil rose 1.65 percent after confirming damage to production facilities at its Jubilee field in Ghana.

Royal Dutch Shell increased 3.99 percent and BP added 3.26 percent.

Mining stocks turned in a strong performance as metal prices recovered. Anglo American surged 8.12 percent and BHP Billiton rose 4.54 percent. Glencore advanced 3.56 percent and Rio Tinto gained 3.65 percent.

Telecom Italia jumped 6.28 percent in Milan, after the chief executive of top shareholder Vivendi said the company has no need to seek capital increase to fund future investments.

German exports grew at the fastest pace in five months during February, after two months of decline, mainly driven by demand from within Europe. Exports grew a calendar-and-seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent month-on-month, which was the biggest increase since September. Economists had forecast a 0.5 percent rise.

The pace of growth in imports eased to 0.4 percent from 1.3 percent a month ago. Economists had expected a 0.3 percent drop.

Consequently, the trade surplus rose to a seasonally adjusted EUR 19.7 billion from EUR 18.7 billion in the previous month.

France's industrial production and factory output declined at the fastest pace in seven months in February, survey data from the statistical office INSEE showed Friday.

Industrial production decreased 1 percent on a monthly basis, reversing a similar size gain registered in the previous month that was revised from a 1.3 percent increase. Economists were looking for a 0.4 percent fall.

U.K. industrial production declined unexpectedly in February, the Office for National Statistics showed Friday. Industrial output fell 0.3 percent in February from January when it grew 0.2 percent. Output was expected to grow 0.1 percent.

U.K. trade in goods logged a bigger-than-expected deficit for February, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Friday. The visible trade deficit rose to GBP 12 billion from GBP 11 billion a year ago. Economists had forecast a GBP 10.5 billion shortfall. In January, the deficit was GBP 12.2 billion.

Reflecting a sharp pullback in inventories of non-durable goods, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing a bigger than expected decrease in U.S. wholesale inventories in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories fell by 0.5 percent in February after edging down by a revised 0.2 percent in January. Economists had expected inventories to dip by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.