European stocks stay in consolidation following impressive rally

Major European stock indexes started the week on a strong footing on the back of the improved market sentiment and continued to push higher before going into a consolidation phase on Friday. 

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index on Thursday advanced to its highest level in nearly two years at 3,708 points and was last seen down 0.05% on a daily basis at 3,704. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.3% and Germany's DAX, which renewed its 22-month high at 13,300 points, was erasing 0.2%.

Earlier this week, reports suggesting that the United States and China will roll back imports tariffs as part of the phase-one of the trade deal eased concerns over the potential negative impact of protracted trade conflict on the global economic growth and fueled the rally in risk-sensitive stocks.

Reflecting the upbeat market mood, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield is up 13% since Monday and Wall Street's main indexes jumped to fresh all-time highs on Thursday.