LONDON: European stock markets rebounded on Friday, making good some of the heavy losses sustained earlier this week in the wake of the long-running controversy surrounding US President Donald Trump’s contacts with Russia.

Around 1335 GMT, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 0.4 per cent compared with Thursday’s close. In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 won 0.2pc and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.6pc.

The dollar fell against its main rivals, while oil prices climbed above $50 per barrel ahead of next week’s Opec meeting that markets expect to result in the cartel at least sticking by a recent deal to cut crude output.

Oil traders were following closely the presidential election in Iran, one of the world’s biggest crude producers and a key member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2017