European stocks closed on a strong note on Friday, buoyed by encouraging U.S. jobs data, and slightly easing worries about banking sector woes.
Investors also digested a slew of corporate earnings updates.
The Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report for April showed job growth in the U.S. far exceeded economist estimates in the month of April, the jump in employment followed notable downward revision to the two previous months.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 253,000 jobs in April compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 179,000 jobs.
However, the job growth in February and March was downwardly revised to 248,000 jobs and 165,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a combined downward revision of 149,000 jobs.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.08%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.98%, Germany's DAX surged 1.44% and France's CAC 40 advanced 1.26%, while Switzerland's SMI gained 0.85%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher.
Turkiye declined sharply, while Iceland closed flat.
In the UK market, Antofagasta, Barclays and BP gained 3.3 to 3.6%. Anglo American Plc, WPP, Ocado Group, Natwest Group, HSBC Holdings, Prudential, Rio Tinto, ABRDN, Glencore and Informa gained 2 to 3%.
IAG rallied nearly 2% after narrowing its Q1 pre-tax loss and lifting its full year adjusted operating profit outlook.
IHG, Endeavour Mining Plc, Compass Group, Hargreaves Lansdown, Reckitt Benckiser and Smith & Nephew lost 0.6 to 2%.
In Paris, Renault climbed 4.5%. BNP Paribas, Capgemini, Publicis Groupe, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, TotalEnergies, Saint Gobain, Stellantis, AXA, Sanofi, Unibail Rodamco, Alstom, Michelin and WorldLine gained 2 to 3.5%.
In the German market, Adidas soared nearly 9% after posting better-than-expected first-quarter results. Covestro, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Continental, BMW and BASF gained 3.5 to 5.3%.
Siemens Energy, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Fresenius, Siemens, Puma, Henkel, Infineon and Bayer also posted strong gains.
Deutsche Post tumbled 2.8%. Allianz and RWE lost about 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively.
On the economic front, German factory orders posted the biggest decline since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, falling 10.7% month-on-month in March, offsetting the revised 4.5% increase in February, data released by Destatis showed. Orders were forecast to drop moderately by 2.2%.
Germany's construction sector continued to contract in April as rising interest rates and high construction prices dampened activity, survey results published by S&P Global showed.
The HCOB construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 42.0 in April from 42.9 in the previous month. The score has remained below the 50.0 mark that separates growth from contraction. Moreover, the reading signaled the weakest performance since December last year.
France's industrial production declined more than expected in March, dropping by 1.1% from February, data from the statistical office INSEE showed. Production was expected to drop only 0.3%. Similarly, manufacturing output decreased 1.1% in March after a 1.3% rise.
The British construction sector remained in expansion territory for the third straight month in April as rising volumes of commercial and civil engineering work were largely offset by a steep decline in the housing activity, survey results from S&P Global showed.
The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply construction Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, rose slightly more-than-expected to 51.1 in April from 50.7 in March. The expected reading was 51.0.
Switzerland's consumer price inflation eased more-than-expected in April to the lowest level in a year amid a slowdown in prices for a broad number of categories, the Federal Statistical Office reported.
The consumer price index, or CPI, climbed 2.6% year-over-year in April, slower than the 2.9% gain in March. Economists had expected inflation to ease slightly to 2.8%.
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