European stocks rebound at open

LONDON: European stock markets rebounded at the start of trading on Friday following a late recovery on Wall Street and a record-winning streak by Tokyo.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index climbed 0.4 percent to 7,551.93 points compared with Thursday's closing level.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index won 0.5 percent to 13,057.78 points and the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.4 percent to 5,389.48.

Spain's IBEX 35 index opened fractionally higher.

US indices had been in the red for most of Thursday, but the Dow and S&P 500 managed to eke out gains at the close to reach fresh record-highs.

Tokyo's benchmark stock index meanwhile closed higher Friday, posting its longest winning streak in nearly six decades.

The Nikkei 225 inched up 0.04 percent to end at 21,457.64 points, rising for the 14th day straight to match a record set in 1961.

In Europe, markets in London, Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid all retreated Thursday as Spain said it would start seizing some of the Catalan regional government's powers after the region's leader warned he could declare independence.

The crisis has sparked concerns about one of the European Union's biggest economies and Madrid has already cut its growth forecast for next year owing to the crisis.

European markets were being affected also by deadlocked Brexit talks between the EU and British officials, according to traders.