BANKING ON BANKS
Germany's Deutsche Bank outpaced its European peers for the second session running, gaining 4.7 percent as investors cheered an upbeat earnings outlook and speculated about a merger or takeover.
Takeover talk also powered Dutch retail group Vendex up 15.3 percent after the company said it had received approaches over a possible buyout bid worth 1.3 billion euros.
Oil stocks remained a weak spot, with Royal Dutch/Shell leading the way down with a drop of 2.7 percent as a number of brokers cut their price targets on the stock following its results on Thursday.
Finnish electronics group Elcoteq fell 11 percent after posting weaker-than-expected earnings and giving only vague guidance on this year's sales and profits.
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