Reactions among European governments were mixed. Finance Minister Christine Largarde declared that France has pulled out of recession. German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was less confident. “There is still a long way to go before our economy regains its level of a year ago,” he said in a statement.European stocks rose on hopes of recovery as skeptics warned that the recovery likely will be slow, held back by high unemployment, the continued scarcity of credit, and the expiration of government fiscal stimulus.An unexpected rise in second-quarter GDP in Germany and France, pillars of the euro zone economy, boosted financial markets, which are still fretting over the potential for a global economic pickup.Fresh data on Thursday dented hopes the U.S. economy is on the verge of a strong rebound, even as Western Europe’s two largest economies reported a surprising return to growth in the second quarter.

