European's main stock benchmark closed with gains for the first time in five sessions on Thursday, with resource companies helping to lead the charge higher on bets the U.S. Federal Reserve won't raise rates this year.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.72% gained 0.7% to end at 342.91, recovering almost entirely from a 0.8% drop on Wednesday.

Wednesday's weakness came as investors feared the minutes from the Federal Reserve's July would signal a rate increase could happen as soon as September. However, the meeting minutes, released after the European market closed on Wednesday, showed the central-bank officials remain split over whether a rate increase is needed soon.

U.K. stocks rose on Thursday after surprisingly strong retail sales for July dispelled fears Britain is sliding into a recession because of the Brexit vote.

The FTSE 100 index UKX, +0.14% gained 0.1% to close at 6,868.96, partly recovering from a 0.5% loss on Wednesday.

Retail sales were the main focus on the data front on Thursday, capping off a week of the first economic data to show the real effect on the U.K. economy from the referendum on European Union membership.

The Office for National Statistics said sales rose 1.4%, well above a 0.2% estimated rise in a FactSet poll of analysts.

U.S. stocks on Thursday logged a modest return in a trading session marked by relatively muted moves for the main benchmarks as investors pored over a batch of upbeat economic data and digested signs that the Federal Reserve remains divided about the timing of the next interest-rate hike.

A rise in oil prices, which pushed West Texas Intermediate crude trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange - the U.S. benchmark - into bull-market territory, helped nudge energy stocks up. A bull market is defined as a 20% rise from a recent low.

Asian stocks retreated on Friday and the dollar edged up from a near eight-week low after some Federal Reserve officials reiterated the case for raising interest rates in coming months.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 erased earlier gains to trade 0.1 percent lower, set for a weekly loss of 2.6 percent.

China's CSI 300 index .CSI300 and the Shanghai Composite .SSEC slid 0.2 percent, but were still up 1.9 percent and 1.6 percent for the week, respectively.