European stock markets rally at open

LONDON: European stock markets rallied at the start of trading on Friday, as dealers took their cue from overnight gains on Wall Street.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip companies advanced 0.9 percent to 7,617.19 points compared with Thursday's closing level.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX index won 1.3 percent to 14,257.30 points and the Paris CAC 40 also leapt 1.3 percent to stand at 6,546.17.

Wall Street recovered from steep intraday losses to end on a positive note on Thursday, even as investors braced for tighter monetary policy from the US Federal Reserve.

However, Asian equities struggled Friday at the end of a tough week dominated by the Fed's hawkish tone in minutes from its latest meeting.