European stocks rebounded on Friday to break a six-week losing streak as markets cheered news that Germany and France have adopted a common position on a bailout for Greece.
After weeks of haggling, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has conceded that participation by private lenders, including the region's wobbly banks, should be voluntary.
Analysts expect a massive rescue package to be agreed upon in the next week or two, if Athens can remain committed to austerity measures.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks unofficially rose 1.62 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, gained 0.38 percent.
Unofficially around Europe, the German DAX added 0.88 percent, while the French CAC 40 picked up 0.83 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 advanced 0.43 percent, but Switzerland's SMI fell 0.24 percent.
Big banks responded well to the progress made on Greece. Credit Agricole added 2.3 percent and Banco Santander rose 4.8 percent.
Deutsche Bank added 1.7 percent after SocGen left it at "Hold."
Disappointing guidance from Canada's Research in Motion impacted tech stocks. Alcatel-Lucent was flat after early losses, while Infineon lost 1.75 percent.
Chipmaker ARM Holdings lost 1.1 percent after announcing the purchase of Obsidian Software.
Daimler and BMW rose more than one percent each. JPMorgan cut its price target for Daimler to 77 euros from 79 euros, but raised BMW's price target to 88 euros from 71 euros.
Volkswagen is added 0.6 percent after the company said its vehicle deliveries for May climbed 17.4 percent, reflecting stable increase in deliveries for all brands.
Deutsche Post was little changed. Goldman Sachs reduced its price target on the stock to 16.20 euros from 17.70 euros.
Brenntag edged up 0.25 percent in Frankfurt after the pharmaceutical firm's price target was raised to 102 euros from 90 euros at Goldman Sachs.
Medical services firm Celesio plunged 15 percent as several analysts reduced their price targets on the stock. Celesio said profit may fall this year as "government measures" and competition weighed on results.
Grocery retailer Carrefour lost 1.77 percent. Unicredit cut its price target on the stock to 30 euros from 33 euros, while JPMorgan kept the stock at "Overweight" with a price target of 45 euros. Commerzbank cut Carrefour to "hold."
ArcelorMittal fell 0.2 percent in Frankfurt. Goldman Sachs cut its price target on the steel giant to 33 euros from 34 euros.
Nuclear power company Areva SA lost 1.25 percent after announcing Anne Lauvergeon will be replaced as chief executive officer by Luc Oursel.
Luxury goodmaker Tod's SpA fell 0.9 percent on a Morgan Stanley downgrade.
In economic news, the euro area trade balance showed a shortfall of 4.1 billion euros in April compared to a surplus of 1.6 billion euros in March, data from Eurostat showed. Economists had forecast a shortfall of 1.9 billion euros for April.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.