European stock markets closed higher in muted trading on Friday following a positive start on Wall Street as traders returned from their Thanksgiving Day break.
London's FTSE 100 index rose 0.23 percent to 5,523.8 points, the Frankfurt DAX 30 added 0.12 percent to 5,194.27 points and in Paris the CAC 40 rose by 0.30 percent to 4,600.48.
The DJ Euro STOXX 50 index of leading eurozone shares gained 0.20 percent to 3,466.08 points.
As European markets closed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 0.24 percent to 10,942.44 points in New York, and the NASDAQ composite had added 0.07 percent to 2,261.46.
The broad Standard and Poor's 500 index showed a gain of 0.17 percent at 1,267.81 points.
In Asian trading, the NIKKEI-225 index closed up 0.28 percent at 14,784.29 points, a near five-year high for a seventh straight session as a softer yen and solid banking results added to investor optimism, dealers said.
Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index ended flat at 15,081.47 points.
In London, Tate and Lyle helped the FTSE into positive territory.
Europe's biggest sugar refiner jumped 7.64 percent to ?5.67 after saying that the EU's sugar reform plans would eliminate the negative impact on its operating results before exceptional items for the years to March 2007 and 2008.
EU farm ministers agreed on Thursday to a reform of their sugar sector after the WTO ruled it illegal earlier this year following a complaint from Australia, Brazil and Thailand.
At the moment, the EU offers a guaranteed price for sugar that is paid for, in effect, by consumers, with Brussels buying from producers at about three times the average world market price.
The reform package, which goes into effect next year, was approved after the proposed cut in the guaranteed price was reduced to 36 percent rather than 39 percent in a previous set of proposals.
Elsewhere on the FTSE, the UK's biggest retailer, Tesco, fell 0.88 percent to ?3.10 after third-quarter sales figures from the supermarket failed to impress.
In Paris, shares in Electricite de France ended the week at 31.76 euros, up 0.95 percent on the day but below their launch price on Monday of 32 euros.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index added 0.11 percent to 418.30 points, the Swiss SMI was up 0.33 percent at 7,498.7, in Milan the SP/MIB gained 0.22 percent to 34,436, in Madrid the IBEX-35 rose 0.21 percent to 10,656.3 and in Brussels the BEL-20 closed 0.66 percent higher at 3,421.74.
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