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European markets<\/span> closed higher on Friday with investors picking up shares amid optimism about economic recovery thanks to the momentum in vaccine rollouts and recent strong data out of the U.S.<\/p>\n Rising coronavirus<\/span> cases across the continent and the European Commission’s warning that the European Union is at the start of a third wave of the pandemic rendered the mood somewhat cautious, but stocks still managed to find fairly decent support.<\/p>\n The positive trend in the U.S. market amid a rally in bank stocks after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said lenders can resume buybacks and announce higher dividends once the stress tests on banks are over. <\/p>\n Higher crude oil prices pushed up energy stocks, contributing significantly to the positive close. <\/p>\n The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.91%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 moved up 0.99%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.87%, France’s CAC 40 ended up 0.61% and Switzerland’s SMI edged up 0.16%.<\/p>\n Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended with strong gains. Turkey closed weak.<\/p>\n In the UK market, Smiths Group gained about 7% after reporting better-than-expected interim profit and issuing upbeat forecast for the second half of the fiscal year.<\/p>\n Glencore moved up 6.5%. Antofagasta, Anglo American, Evraz, Renishaw, Rio Tinto, BHP Group, Next and BP gained 3 to 4.5%. Royal Dutch Shell, Aveva Group, Associated British Foods, BT Group and Melrose Industries also rose sharply.<\/p>\n Standard Life, National Grid, Barratt Developments, Polymetal International, Bunzl and Intertek Group ended notably lower.<\/p>\n In the German market, Thyssenkrupp, Covestro, Fresenius, Deutsche Wohnen, Infineon Technologies and Fresenius Medical Care gained 2 to 5%.<\/p>\n In France, ArcelorMittal soared more than 8%. Technip gained about 4%, while Saint Gobain, Capgemini, STMicroElectronics, WorldLine and Legrand moved up 2 to 3%.<\/p>\n In economic news, German business<\/span> confidence improved more than expected in March, survey results from the ifo Institute showed.<\/p>\n The business confidence index rose to 96.6 in March from revised 92.7 in February. The score was forecast to climb to 93.2.<\/p>\n The current conditions climbed to 93.0, which was above economists’ forecast of 91.3. Likewise, the expectations indicator advanced to 100.4 versus forecast of 95.0.<\/p>\n In the U.K., retail sales recovered in February largely driven by non-food store sales. Retail sales volume including auto fuel logged a monthly growth of 2.1%, in contrast to January’s 8.2% decrease. The pace of growth matched economists’ expectations.<\/p>\n On a yearly basis, retail sales fell at a slower pace of 3.7% after decreasing 5.9% in January. This was the second consecutive drop in sales and was better than the expected drop of -3.5%. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n