Both U.S. and European stocks advanced on Friday following a week of strong earnings reports from U.S. tech stocks. Prior to Thursday’s market close, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index surged 2.43% to 12,142 points, while the S&P 500 gained 1.96% to 4,135 points. The Dow Jones climbed 1.57% to 33,826 points.
In Europe, the UK’s blue-chip index, the FTSE 100, rose 0.20% to 7,844 points following Friday’s market opening while the CAC 40 in Paris remained steady at 7,484 points. Germany’s DAX advanced by 0.52% to 15,882.
Gains in the UK came despite another round of declining banking stocks. Natwest’s shares dropped by 5.29% during the first few minutes of trading despite the bank reporting higher-than-expected profits of £1.3 billion for the first quarter. Barclays was down 0.43% while Lloyds slipped 2.06%.
In contrast, Numis, a London-based boutique investment bank, skyrocketed 67.65% following the announcement that it would be acquired by Deutsche Bank for a price tag of approximately £410 million.
Asian markets largely rose on Friday morning, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rising 1.40% to 28,856 points while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.85% to 20,008.