European stock markets posted gains on Friday on the back of positive corporate earnings and a consenszus that US interest rates were near the end of a cycle of increases.
London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares added 0.77 percent to 5,974.90 points, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 index gained 0.82 percent to 5,705.42 and the Paris CAC 40 closed 0.55 percent higher at 5,028.51.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares added 0.79 percent to 3,710.60 points.
The euro stood at US$1.2750.
As European markets closed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 1.10 percent to 11,223.06 points in New York and the NASDAQ Composite of technology shares was up by 1.36 percent at 2,082.35.
The broad Standard and Poor's 500 index showed an increase of 1.12 percent to 1,277.33.
In Asia, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed up 1.07 percent at 15,342.87 points.
Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index rose 0.23 percent to 16,955.04 points, as investors turned cautious ahead of the release of US second-quarter growth data, and global banking giant HSBC's interim results tomorrow, dealers said.
US economic growth slowed to just 2.5 percent in the three months to last month, Commerce Department data subsequently showed, as consumers turned nervous in the face of sky-high fuel prices and a cooling property market.
In London, where the FTSE regained the level seen before stock markets collapsed in May, mining company Xstrata led the pack higher however with a leap of 7.47 percent to 2,301 pence.
The Anglo-Swiss group appeared to have won an intense bidding war for the Canadian miner Falconbridge, dealers said.
British satellite broadcaster BSkyB rose 2.55 percent to ?0.0564 after offering a positive outlook owing to strong demand for its new services.
The insurance group Prudential was the biggest decliner on the FTSE 100, shedding 3.02 percent to ?5.775 after Britain's second-biggest insurance company reported a weaker-than-expected performance at its online banking arm Egg, dealers said.
In Paris, Michelin tires leapt by 6.98 percent to 48.57 euros after publishing a mixed set of first-half results.
Michelin reported a 29.0-percent fall in net first-half profit and cut its target for profitability this year, highlighting a surge in raw materials costs.
But US broker Morgan Stanley retained its "equal-weight" recommendation for Michelin, noting that operating profit was in-line, and with a reduction in full-year guidance that was expected but not as negative as it had feared.
Automaker Renault gained 1.59 percent to 86.10 euros after it reassured investors with a first-half operating margin of 2.7 percent, better than the forecast of 2.5 percent.
Defense group Thales shot up by 3.96 percent to 31.49 euros after posting a first-half profit of 172 million euros and confirming forecasts for the entire fiscal year.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index added 0.82 percent to 456.22 points, the Swiss SMI was up by 1.15 percent to 7,946.50, in Milan the SP/Mib gained 0.61 percent to 36,720, in Madrid the Ibex-35 rose by 1.01 percent to 11,887.4 and in Brussels the Bel-20 closed 0.36 percent higher at 3,797.88.
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