European equities rebound at open

April 16, 2020: Europe's stock markets rallied in opening deals on Thursday, despite losses elsewhere, as investors focused on plans to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions in several nations.

                  In initial deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip companies was up 1.0 percent to 5,653.72 points.

                  In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX added 1.3 percent to 10,411.56 points and the Paris CAC 40 advanced 1.4 percent to 4,412.62.

                  Milan's FTSE Mib jumped 2.1 percent to 17,067.98 and Madrid's IBEX 35 gained 1.3 percent to 6,927.10 points

                  "Investors are shrugging off the pessimism and (are) willing to focus on more positive things," said AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam.

                  "Germany has drawn (up) a plan to ease off the lockdown restrictions and traders are optimistic about this development.

                  "Having said this, European markets are not trading higher with bigger margins, we are only seeing some small gains, and it is likely that as trading resumes, these small gains may disappear because of the selling pressure on the energy sector."

                  With oil prices at near-decade lows, the energy majors have suffered badly.

AFP/APP