Europe stocks end higher amid post-Brexit recovery

European stocks finished the session with solid gains on Friday as the recovery in global markets continued, despite uncertainties over Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.7 percent in what had been a choppy session. Sectors were mostly higher, while tech and health care stocks showed signs of weakness.

London’s FTSE index closed higher by 1.1 percent provisionally. On the week, it gained over 7 percent, marking the best weekly percentage gain since December 2011.

Markets have risen since Bank of England Governor Mark Carney gave a dovish speech on Thursday, saying the bank could deploy further stimulus this summer in light of last week’s U.K. referendum result.

Euro zone unemployment data for May came out on Friday, with the figure falling to 10.1 percent, down from April’s 10.2 percent figure, according to Eurostat.

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London-listed shares of Fresnillo closed around 7.6 percent higher on the back of a sharp price rise in silver, which neared two-year highs on Friday. Indeed, most metal prices posted solid gains on Friday, boosting the likes of ArcelorMittal and Anglo American. However BHP Billiton closed narrowly in the red, after a court in Brazil reinstated a $6 billion claim over the Samarco iron ore disaster, according to Reuters.

Autos was the best-performing European stock sector, following industry data that showed new car sales rose 0.8 percent in France in June. Afterwards, shares of French automakers, Renault and Peugeot Citroen, closed up 6.7 percent and 4.7 percent respectively.

Plus, Volkswagen shares closed up nearly 5 percent after the auto firm said at a court hearing that it could fix 85,000 polluting diesel cars and SUVs, according to Reuters.

Outside of Europe, Asian stock markets closed mostly higher on Friday, despite a slew of downbeat data from China and Japan. Manufacturing momentum in China skidded to a four-month low in June, according to twin surveys released on Friday.

In the U.S., stocks tried for gains amid key domestic manufacturing reports.

Source: CNBC