European stocks see relief rally as banks rebound

The European stocks snapped three-day decline and rebounded on Thursday, after the banking sector stocks paused the sell-off and climbed higher on profit-taking ahead of the release of ECB monetary policy accounts and US ADP jobs report due later today.

Markets ignored not so impressive economic data from the Euro zone as well as from the UK, and bounced higher on the back of upbeat corporate news. French food giant Danone is in M&A talks with the US-based health group WhiteWave Foods for $12.5 billion. Shares of the company jumped 3.3%. While French plane maker Airbus’ shares climbed 1.6% after  it booked 227 orders in the first half of the year.

Germany's DAX 30 index rises -0.89% to 9,454, while the UK's FTSE 100 index jumps +1.46% at 6,558. Among other indices, the French CAC 40 index rallies +1.45% to 4,144, while the Euro Stoxx 50 index advances +1.09% to 2,791.