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| - European stock markets rebounded Friday ahead of key US jobs data, shrugging off steep losses in Asia and overnight on Wall Street, with the financial sector boosted by Spanish banks Bankia and CaixaBank mulling a merger. European bourses initially fell, extending the previous day's sell-off. However as the morning progressed, they rebounded as many investors concluded that tech-driven US losses were rooted in profit-taking. In early afternoon deals, Madrid stocks rallied 1.6 percent, Paris won 1.1 percent and Frankfurt added 0.5 percent. London gained 0.8 percent approaching the half-way stage. "The turnaround (in Europe) is due to a combination of factors -- firstly, the realisation that yesterday's tech selloff was not a risk-off event, but a profit-taking exercise," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta. "Secondly, (there is) consolidation in the European banking sector with Spain's Bankia and Caixabank looking to merge." Savings conglomerate Bankia indicated in a statement late Thursday that it had made contact with CaixaBank "with a view to a potential merger", but no agreement has yet been reached. The deal would create a Spanish banking titan, with more than 650 million euros ($770 million) of assets, in a sector battered by the coronavirus' effect on the wider economy. The news sent Bankia stock rocketing 30.5 percent to 1.35 euros and Caixabank surging 14.7 percent to 2.08 euros. The combined group would be Spain's third largest lender after Santander and BBVA -- whose share prices also chalked up double-digit gains in Friday. In London, NatWest, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, jumped 4.1 percent to 109.25 pence to top the FTSE 100 risers leaderboard. Banks surged also in Paris and Frankfurt. Societe Generale shares leapt 4.9 percent to 13.59 euros and Credit Agricole won 3.8 percent to 8.76 euros, while Germany's Deutsche Bank gained 4.9 percent to 8.27 euros. Elsewhere, Asian markets fell deep into negative territory Friday following painfully losses on Wall Street, where the tech sector finally succumbed to profit-taking after months of mind-boggling gains. All three main indices in New York suffered hefty selling but the tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way with global titans such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook among the worst hit. The drop had been expected after the Nasdaq climbed around 80 percent from its March trough, with analysts warning that valuations were out of sync with economic realities. London - FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 5,896.77 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.5 percent at 13,119.37 Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.1 percent at 5,066.54 Madrid - IBEX 35: UP 1.6 percent at 7,114.80 Milan - FTSE MIB: UP 1.0 percent at 19,744.78 EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 3,325.20 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 23,205.43 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.3 percent at 24,695.45 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,355.37 (close) New York - Dow: DOWN 2.8 percent at 28,292.73 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1848 from $1.1852 at 2100 GMT on Thursday Dollar/yen: UP at 106.23 yen from 106.19 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3297 from $1.3281 Euro/pound: DOWN at 89.10 pence from 89.23 pence Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.6 percent at $44.34 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $41.68 burs-rfj/bcp/cdw
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