Investing.com - European stocks rallied on Friday, after the release of strong German factory orders data and as investors digested Thursday's remarks by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 surged 1.34%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.10%, while Germany’s DAX 30 jumped 1.13%.
Official data earlier showed that German factory orders rose 2.5% in October, exceeding expectations for a 0.6% gain. Factory orders in September were revised to an increase of 1.1% from a previously estimated 0.8% rise.
European equities had weakened on Thursday after ECB President Mario Draghi indicated that it would not embark on quantitative easing for now, saying the bank would reassess its stimulus program in the first quarter of 2015.
Draghi said the bank could potentially change the size, scale and composition of its existing stimulus programs. The governing council remains unanimous that it will take further measures, if necessary, he added.
The ECB substantially revised down its forecasts for growth and inflation and warned that the latest forecasts do not take into account the recent steep drop in oil prices.
Financial stocks were sharply higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) jumped 1.79% and 2.17%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) climbed 0.52% and 0.83%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit surged 2.16% and 2.22% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA rallied 1.68% and 1.72%.
Elsewhere, Zurich Insurance (SIX:ZURN) rose 0.36% after saying it is on track to meet its targets for 2016.
In London, FTSE 100 advanced 0.68%, led by Intertek Group (LONDON:ITRK), up 3.69% after the quality solutions provider and Letton Hall Group, a leader in oil and gas flow measurement technology, agreed to a business partnership providing advanced measurement and allocation services to the oil and gas industry.
Balfour Beatty (LONDON:BALF) added to gains, with shares climbing 0.90% after the construction company turned down a £1 billion offer for its portfolio of government-backed projects from John Laing Infrastructure Fund Ltd (LONDON:JLIF).
Financial stocks were also on the upside. Shares in Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) gained 0.55% and Barclays jumped 1%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) rallied 1.50% and 1.53% respectively.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were broadly lower as Rio Tinto slid 0.37% and Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) dropped 0.55%, while Anglo American retreated 0.84% and Randgold Resources tumbled 1.91%.
Earlier Friday, Rio Tinto Chief Executive Officer Sam Walsh said that Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN)'s trading-focused philosophy would be a major impediment to a merger between the two mining companies. Glencore shares were down just 0.03%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.10% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.08% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.04% uptick.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the closely watched government report on nonfarm payrolls, the unemployment rate and average earnings, as well as a report on factory orders.