Strong US retail sales help European indexes finish week higher

Nick Serff, Market Analyst, City Index commented: "Investor volume remained light on Friday afternoon as equity markets across Europe grinded higher into the close. The FTSE 100 closed marginally higher with the DAX 30 the best performer closing up 0.9 percent.

Travel and leisure shares topped the FTSE 100 leader board after Thomas Cook said it was looking for possible acquisitions in Germany. TUI Travel, Europe's largest travel group also went along for the ride gaining 3.3 percent.

Retail sales numbers released out of the U.S at 13:30 London time showed that American consumers are slightly more positive going into year end. November sales rose 1.3 percent slightly down on Octobers 1.4 percent. However the number was higher than the forecasted 0.7 percent.

Trading has remained choppy this afternoon with a slight positive bias, as stock indexes traded back towards the top of their recent ranges. Clients will be looking at the firm close this week to maybe feed into the start of next. However with trading expected to remain light in the run up to Christmas, markets across Europe could easily remain range bound.

Next week traders and investors will be looking closely at the FOMC statement due out on Wednesday and CPI numbers from the US and UK. With stock, option and futures expiry's also due at the end of the week, we could see some volatile moves on light volume."