By Barbara Kollmeyer and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Europe's stock benchmark stepped higher Friday, closing up for the week, but equities in Germany ended lower in what has been a wild roller-coaster ride for European markets.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% to end at 363.28, leaving it up 0.6% for the week. The index jumped 3.5% on Thursday, boosted by upbeat U.S. growth data, which helped compensate for recent concerns about China growth.

The main Europe index managed to recover from Monday's 5.3% selloff, triggered by those China worries. But Friday's action was somewhat muted, with investors on the sidelines especially as the U.S. central bank's annual Jackson Hole summit gets under way. As the market increasingly pushes out expectations for a U.S. interest rate hike to December from September, investors will be listening closely to the Federal Reserve for clues as to the exact timing of the next move.

Read: Fischer, Carney to headline Jackson Hole summit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fischer-carney-to-headline-jackson-hole-summit-2015-08-27)

Many gainers on Friday were concentrated in the oil sector. Oil traded sharply higher Friday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-extend-gains-as-markets-rebound-2015-08-28-11032224), building on Thursday's surge of more than 10% -- the biggest one-day price rise since 2009. Shares of Statoil ASA (STL.OS) rose 3.9%, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) added 2.5%. BP PLC (BP.LN) moved up 2.7%

Among bank stocks, Banco Santander SA (SAN) rose 0.9% after Deutsche Bank analysts upgraded shares to buy from hold, citing a selloff in shares over the past month.

Andrew Garthwaite, global equity strategist at Credit Suisse, said in a note Friday that his team remains "constructive" on European and U.S. stocks, even though they have cut their year-end price targets. "Summer selloffs tend to reverse" and "too much of a slowdown in growth is being priced in," he wrote.

Meanwhile, Germany's DAX 30 bucked Friday's positive trend, falling 0.2% to close at 10,298.53, with Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) and Daimler AG (DAI.XE) among the notable decliners, dropping 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively. The DAX still managed a 1.7% gain for the week.

In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.4% to end at 4,675.13, nabbing a 1% gain for the week. In London, the FTSE 100 index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-seesaws-eyes-loss-for-volatile-week-2015-08-28) rose 0.9% to end at 6,247.94. The British benchmark tacked on 1% for the week, trimming its loss for August to 6.7%. Friday was the month's last trading session in London as Monday is a U.K. holiday.

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 28, 2015 12:55 ET (16:55 GMT)