Europe: Stock markets rally at open

[LONDON] Europe's main stock markets rebounded strongly at the start of trading on Friday, extending the volatility seen since the European Central Bank unveiled fresh stimulus measures the day before.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 and the Paris CAC 40 indices both jumped by 1.8 per cent to 9,672.05 points and 4,430.24 respectively.

Outside the eurozone, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 1.1 per cent to 6,099.87 points compared with Thursday's close.

European markets had finished decisively lower Thursday as initial enthusiasm about ECB stimulus was replaced with doubts about the central bank's plans and the region's outlook.

Equities had surged at first after the ECB cut its main interest rate to zero per cent for the first time, and boosted the amount of cash stimulus it is pumping around the eurozone economy.

But bourses suffered a rapid downturn after the central bank cut its growth and inflation forecasts for 2016 and 2017 and ECB chief Mario Draghi said at a news conference that he did not anticipate further interest rate cuts.

In volatile trading that has become the hallmark of recent unrest across all financial markets, European stocks bounced back once more heading into the weekend break, helped by some positivity seen on Wall Street and in Asia.

"Asian equities have managed to rebound from the post-ECB sell-off," said FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunuga, adding however in a note to clients that "stock markets are still vulnerable and may be poised for further decline in the future as the ECB fiasco compounds to the ongoing global woes".

AFP