European equities markets were higher Friday, at least partly owing to news from the US Labor department that the US economy lost only 36,000 non-farm jobs last month rather than the 50,000 decline that had been expected.
The FTSE 100 was up 1.31 percent to 5,599.76 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 1.13 percent to 9,774.72.
For the second day in a row, asset management company Schroders (LSE: SDR, SDRt) led gainers on the 100, with voting shares adding 6.56 percent while non-voting shares were up 6.1 percent.
Miners were higher with the exception of Gem Diamonds (LSE: GEMD), which dropped 0.48 percent, with Xstrata (LSE: XTA) having the best day in the sector with a gain of 5.56 percent.
The best performance in London for the session came on the 250, where business information services group United Business Media (LSE: UBM) added 6.6 percent.
Recruiter Michael Page International had the worst day in London as it dropped 2.53 percent in the 250, while Resolution (LSE: RSL), which specializes in corporate buyouts and restructuring, saw the biggest decline on the 100 as it fell 1.86 percent.
Most utilities were lower, led by United Utilities Group (LSE: UU) with a drop of 1.61 percent while Centrica (LSE: CNA) was down 0.56 percent.
The pharmaceuticals sector also saw declines as GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) fell 0.52 percent after UBS cut its target share price on the drug maker, while Hikma Pharmaceuticals (LSE: HIK) dropped 2.21 percent for the worst performance in the sector.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.74 percent to 1,054.49 while the Dax added 1.42 percent to 5,877.36, the CAC-40 was 2.14 percent higher to 3,910.42 and the IBEX added 2.55 percent to 11,019.8.
Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher to end the week as the Nikkei 225 saw its biggest one-week gain all year.
The Nikkei was up 2.2 percent on the session, to 10.368.96, and added 2.4 percent on the week in Tokyo, while the Topix index was 1.47 percent higher to 910.81 and the Mothers market gained 1.11 percent to 417.15 as the yen weakened on the possibility that the Bank of Japan might further loosen monetary policy soon.
Exporters gained on the weaker yen, while the real estate sector was helped by hopes that a Bank of Japan move to loosen policy could make it less expensive to borrow.
Mitsubishi Estate (TYO: 8802) was up 2.9 percent on the session, while Sumitomo Realty & Development (TYO: 8830) gained 4.6 percent.
Shippers advanced on higher rates to move commodities.
Nippon Yusen (TYO: 9101) was up 2.8 percent while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (TYO: 9104) added 4 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (TYO: 9107) gained 4.9 percent on an upgrade from “market perform” to “outperform” from Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
Elsewhere in the region, India’s Sensex was up 0.13 percent to 16,994.49 while the Shanghai Composite added 0.25 percent to 3,031.06.
Australia’s markets were higher as the Sydney Ordinaries gained 0.33 percent to 4,773.4 and the S&P/ASX200 was 0.35 percent higher to 4,767.2.
The Straits Times Index added 0.78 percent to 2,790.29, South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.01 percent to 1,634.57, the Hang Seng was up 1.03 percent to 20,787.97 in Hong Kong and Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.27 percent to 7,666.26.
Markets were also higher in New York, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.78 percent to 10,525.69 in midday trade, while at the same time the S&P 500 was up 0.97 percent to 1,133.88 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.11 percent higher to 2,317.84.
Crude oil and metals prices were also higher in New York at midday.
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