European stocks rise from three-year low

A rebound in banks helped lift European stocks from their lowest levels since 2013, trimming a second weekly decline.

Commerzbank jumped 18%, the most since 2009, after saying it returned to profit. That eased concerns that the region’s lenders will fail to find a way to remain profitable in a low-rate environment, which sent them to their biggest plunge since August 2011 on Thursday. Deutsche Bank climbed 12% after saying it will buy back about $5.4bn of bonds. Energy producers and miners also surged with a rise in commodities.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 2.9%. Germany led the euro area’s growth to 0.3% in the fourth quarter, matching economists’ forecasts. With yesterday’s rally, the benchmark equity gauge pared its weekly drop to 4.1% as the volume of shares changing hands was about a fifth greater than the 30-day average.