On Friday European stocks extended gains from the previous session in the wake of comments by the European Central Bank’s president, Mario Draghi, in which he said that the bank is committed to stimulus efforts.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5% to 399.94, with the move narrowing its potential weekly loss to 0.1%.
The best performing were health-care, financial and consumer-goods shares. Roche Holding Ltd. was among the leaders, rising 2.8% after the Swiss drug maker showed positive results from trials related to the treatment of lung cancer.
A day earlier, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.6%, strengthening the gain after Draghi said the ECB‘s measures to stimulate the eurozone economy “will stay in place as long as needed for its objective to be fully achieved on a truly sustained basis.”
On Friday, Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.5% to 11,625.67, adding to its 1.8% rally the day before, and France’s CAC 40 tacked on 0.6% to 5,058.83.
In London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.4% to 7,000.35. SABMiller
PLC shares gained 0.8% after the maker of Peroni and Miller Genuine
Draft said it’s moving into the U.K. craft beer market by purchasing
Meantime Brewing Company. The terms of the deal kept in secret.
The euro fell after Draghi’s comments, trading at $1.1359 on Friday, compared with $1.410 late Thursday.
In the U.S., equity markets are expected to open higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.14% increase, S&P 500 futures expected to rise 0.13%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.23% gain.
The United States is expected to report on industrial production, manufacturing activity in the New York region and consumer sentiment later in the trading day.
