European stock markets rebounded modestly at the start of trading on Friday following sharp losses suffered the previous day. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.23 percent to 6,712.15 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.46 percent to 8,390.16 points and in Paris the CAC 40 climbed 0.36 percent to 3,981.27. European stock markets had slumped on Thursday, with most indices dropping more than 2.0 percent after Tokyo shares plunged owing to weak Chinese data and signs that the US Federal Reserve may soon taper massive stimulus measures, analysts said.