ROME: Europe s stock markets opened higher Friday following strong gains across Asia inspired by revised second quarter figures in the US indicating better economic growth than previously thought.
In initial trade, London s benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.24 percent to 6,207.05 points.
In the eurozone, Frankfurt s DAX 30 edged up 0.20 percent to 9,687.70 and the CAC 40 in Paris crept 0.12 percent higher to 4,663.98 points.
European markets rebounded Thursday on comments from Federal Reserve officials throwing doubt on prospects of a US interest rate rise in September — news that allowed traders to put on hold fears about flagging Chinese growth that had battered markets all week.
Later in the day, revised statistics showing the US economy grew at an annual rate of 3.7 percent rather than previous estimates of 2.3 percent sent stocks in Europe and on Wall Street higher — momentum that has carried into trading Friday.
Asian stocks extended their rally Friday on the back of the strong US growth figures, fuelling in turn higher early trading in Europe.
But analysts note that despite what appears to be a positive end to a nightmarish week, recent Chinese-inspired market turmoil is probably not over.
“There still does not seem to be the macro foundations for indices to fully recover from their corrections, as concerns over China and uncertainty over Fed rate hikes continue to linger,” said Angus Nicholson, market analyst for IG Markets.
“Some of the concerns over markets ability to fully recover from their corrections have to do with market structure.”
