European stocks closed higher on Friday, as Wall Street rose after falling earlier in the week on renewed concerns the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in the near-term. The pan-European STOXX 600 closed around 1.2 percent higher on the day on Friday and was nearly 1 percent up on the week. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and the French CAC 40 closed roughly 1.7 percent higher on the day on Friday. The German DAX was up 1.2 percent. Global stock markets appear to have dismissed remarks from New York Fed President William Dudley on Thursday that suggested a Fed rate rise might be on the cards in June and prompted major U.S. stock indexes to close lower. Richemont loses shine Shares of Richemont, the owner of luxury watch brands including IWC and Piaget, closed around 4.3 percent lower after it reported a steep decline in Asia-Pacific sales for the fiscal year, despite an overall rise in sales for the year. Natixis cut its outlook on Richemont's stock to "neutral" "from "buy." The results had a knock-on effect on Swatch, which closed around 2.8 percent lower on Friday. The hunt for the EgyptAir flight that went missing on route from Paris to Cairo continues. Airline stocks such as Air France-KLM traded lower on Friday. Italy's Unicredit was one of the top performers on the STOXX 600 on Friday, closing up 7.6 percent. This followed media reports that suggested the lender was reviewing a plan to sell assets to boost its capital base. Brent and WTI crude oil traded flat to lower on Friday at the close of European stock markets. Prices gained earlier in the day as disruption in Nigeria, shale bankruptcies in the U.S. and tumult in Venezuela contributed to tighten crude output. Source: CNBC
