PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The French market was in positive territory on Friday, extending the previous session's gains, after Greece repaid a 450 million euros loan to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday which led to optimism that Europe's economic recovery is on track.
On the economic front, Germany's manufacturing turnover declined for the first time in three months in February, Destatis reported. Manufacturing turnover fell 0.7 percent month-on-month in February reversing a 0.8 percent rise seen each in January and December. This was the first drop in three months.
French industrial production and manufacturing output remained unchanged in February, the statistical office Insee reported. Industrial production showed nil growth in February after rising 0.3 percent in January. Economists had forecast output to fall 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, U.K. industrial production expanded for the first time in three months in February, the Office for National Statistics said. Industrial output rose 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in February, offsetting January's 0.1 percent fall. But the rate was weaker than a 0.3 percent rise forecast by economists.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks was adding 0.31 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, was gaining 0.44 percent.
The CAC 40 index gained 0.4 percent.
Carrefour, which reported growth in first-quarter sales, rose 2.2 percent.
Renault was adding 1.7 percent. Peer Peugeot rose modestly.
Alcatel Lucent and Safran climbed 1.6 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
Other markets in the region were also trading higher.
In the U.S., futures point to a cautious open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow rose 0.3 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gained about half a percent each.
The Asian stocks closed mostly higher, tracking cues from Wall Street overnight, amid optimism from Greece.
Crude for May delivery fell $0.41 to $50.38 per barrel, while gold gained $9.3 to $1202.9 a troy ounce.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX