This year’s global equity rally continued apace on Friday, with European markets posting healthy gains.
“After a soft start to the New Year, the bulls have come charging back for European equities with the large gains seen in recent sessions,” XTB chief market analyst David Cheetham said.
All main European markets were higher at the close on Friday, with standout Frankfurt clocking up a gain of just less than 1.2 percent to close at 13,319.64, ending up 3.1 percent from 12,917.64 a week earlier, despite a share price plunge for heavyweight Deutsche Bank AG after a profit warning.
Paris followed not far behind with a 1.1 percent rise.
London on Friday hit a new intraday record peak at 7,727.73 points, and also set a new closing high of 7,724.22, a daily increase of 0.4 percent and a rise of 0.5 percent from a close of 7,687.77 on Dec. 29 last year, buoyed by the weak pound, which lifted the share prices of multinationals.
The pan-European STOXX 600 on Friday rose 0.9 percent at 397.35, an increase of 2.1 percent from a close of 389.18 a week earlier.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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