European Markets Climbed As "Brexit" Concerns Relax

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Thursday's session in the green, but weakness earlier in the week left the markets with weekly losses. A rebound in crude oil prices and an increase in investor risk appetite contributed to the positive mood. Anxiety over the potential "Brexit" also eased at the end of the trading week. Banks, which have been under intense pressure recently, were among the best performing stocks Friday.

Britain's politicians suspended the Brexit referendum campaign for a second day, following the death of Labour MP Jo Cox, a strong advocate for voting to stay in next week's referendum.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Friday the European Union membership helped the U.K. to transform into a dynamic and vibrant economy and the country will continue to benefit by staying in the group.

The U.K. benefited and will continue to be benefit from its membership in the European Union, Lagarde said, a prepared text for a speech in Vienna showed.

The EU membership has made the U.K. a richer economy, but it has also made it a more diverse, more exciting, and more creative country, she said.

The U.K. gained from increased trade within the EU and, consequently, more investment came and the country became an integrated part of European supply chains, Lagarde noted. Increased trade also raised productivity and incomes, she added.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 1.06 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.99 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.85 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.98 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 1.19 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 1.03 percent.

In Frankfurt, Siemens advanced 0.89 percent. The company announced an agreement to merge its wind power operations with Spain's Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica.

MorphoSys soared 3.44 percent, after saying a case study report from an ongoing clinical phase 2a study in patients with different subtypes of relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has shown long-lasting responses under anti-CD19 treatment with MOR208.

Deutsche Bank leaped 4.81 percent and Commerzbank rose 4.14 percent.

Utility RWE increased 3.89 percent and peer E.ON added 2.93 percent.

In Paris, Societe Generale surged 6.57 percent and Credit Agricole climbed 4.78 percent. BNP Paribas also finished higher by 3.82 percent.

Technip advanced 4.67 percent and Total gained 1.93 percent.

In London, Standard Life jumped 3.09 percent. The insurance firm announced that HDFC Standard Life Insurance, Max Life Insurance and Max Financial Services have initiated talks for a possible merger. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company is a partnership between HDFC and Standard Life.

HSBC climbed 1.10 percent after its HSBC Finance Corp. unit agreed to pay US$1.575 billion to settle 14-year shareholder class action based on events that took place prior to HSBC's acquisition of Household International Inc. in 2003.

Lloyds Banking Group rallied 6.01 percent and Standard Chartered gained 5.50 percent. Barclays increased 4.57 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland rose 3.69 percent.

Supermarket chain Tesco gained 1.11 percent after confirming the sale of its Dobbies Garden Centres business to an investor group led by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital.

Ericsson fell 0.86 percent in Stockholm, after a Swedish daily said the company is the subject of a US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into alleged corruption related to its business in China.

Eurozone's labor costs growth accelerated for the second straight quarter in the three months ended March, figures from Eurostat showed Friday. Hourly labor costs grew at a faster pace of 1.7 percent year-over-year in the first quarter, following a 1.3 percent rise in the previous quarter. In the third quarter last year, the rate of hike was 1.2 percent.

The euro area current account surplus increased notably in April largely on higher primary income, figures from the European Central Bank showed Friday. The current account surplus totaled a seasonally adjusted EUR 36.2 billion in April compared to EUR 26.3 billion in the prior month.

British households perceived that the value of their home increased in June, though at a slower rate than in the previous month, survey figures from Markit Economics and Knight Frank showed Friday. The Knight Frank/Markit House Price Sentiment Index, or HPSI, dropped to 59.7 in June from 61.0 in the previous month.

New residential construction in the U.S. saw a modest decrease in the month of May, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday. The report said housing starts edged down by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.164 million in May from the revised April estimate of 1.167 million.

Economists had expected housing starts to dip to a rate of 1.150 million from the 1.172 million originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, rose by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.138 million in May from the revised April rate of 1.130 million.