Investing.com - European stocks opened sharply higher on Friday, boosted by new-found optimism following a highly anticipated European Central Bank announcement about the bank's bond-buying program.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 surged 1.80%, France’s CAC 40 jumoed 1.21%, while Germany’s DAX 30 climbed 0.82%.
On Thursday, ECB President Mario Draghi unveiled a new bond purchasing program, dubbed Outright Monetary Transactions, which he said will provide "a fully effective backstop" against market volatility.
Under the terms of the plan, the ECB would buy unlimited amounts of government bonds of up to three years in maturity, as long as the country in question is signed up to the OMT program and agrees to economic reforms.
The ECB also maintained the benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.75% at its policy meeting earlier in the day, in line with expectations.
Financial stocks posted sharp gains following Draghi's comments, as France's Societe Generale and BNP Paribas soared 6.28% and 3.53%, while German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank rallied 4,87% and 4.14% respectively.
Peripheral lenders were also broadly higher, led by Italian banks Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, up 4.68% and 4.04% respectively, and followed by Spain's Banco Santander and BBVA, whose shares jumped 2.83% and 2.03%.
Also on the upside, mobile phone maker Nokia soared 5.18%, after slashing prices of its older smartphone models using Microsoft Windows software on Thursday, a day after investors gave its latest Lumia phones a thumbs-down.
Accordong to a Reuters report, the Finnish group cut the price of its mid-range Lumia 800 Windows Phone by around 15% this week and made smaller reductions on other Windows models.
In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.32%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply higher.
Shares in Barclays rallied 5.05% and the Royal Bank of Scotland jumped 3.81%, while Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings advanced 3.18% and 0.95% respectively.
Mining companies also added to gains, as shares in giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton surged 3.20% and 1.86%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys climbed 1.42% and 3.09%.
Bloomberg reported earlier that Glencore International adjourned a meeting of its shareholders to vote on an offer for Xstrata, citing "developments overnight", amid speculation it is in the process of improving its offer over fears that Xstrata may reject the current deal.
The news sent Glencore shares were down 3.98%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.30% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.36% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.34% gain.
Later in the day, Germany was to publish official data on industrial production, while the U.S. was to release a report on non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 surged 1.80%, France’s CAC 40 jumoed 1.21%, while Germany’s DAX 30 climbed 0.82%.
On Thursday, ECB President Mario Draghi unveiled a new bond purchasing program, dubbed Outright Monetary Transactions, which he said will provide "a fully effective backstop" against market volatility.
Under the terms of the plan, the ECB would buy unlimited amounts of government bonds of up to three years in maturity, as long as the country in question is signed up to the OMT program and agrees to economic reforms.
The ECB also maintained the benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.75% at its policy meeting earlier in the day, in line with expectations.
Financial stocks posted sharp gains following Draghi's comments, as France's Societe Generale and BNP Paribas soared 6.28% and 3.53%, while German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank rallied 4,87% and 4.14% respectively.
Peripheral lenders were also broadly higher, led by Italian banks Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, up 4.68% and 4.04% respectively, and followed by Spain's Banco Santander and BBVA, whose shares jumped 2.83% and 2.03%.
Also on the upside, mobile phone maker Nokia soared 5.18%, after slashing prices of its older smartphone models using Microsoft Windows software on Thursday, a day after investors gave its latest Lumia phones a thumbs-down.
Accordong to a Reuters report, the Finnish group cut the price of its mid-range Lumia 800 Windows Phone by around 15% this week and made smaller reductions on other Windows models.
In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.32%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply higher.
Shares in Barclays rallied 5.05% and the Royal Bank of Scotland jumped 3.81%, while Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings advanced 3.18% and 0.95% respectively.
Mining companies also added to gains, as shares in giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton surged 3.20% and 1.86%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys climbed 1.42% and 3.09%.
Bloomberg reported earlier that Glencore International adjourned a meeting of its shareholders to vote on an offer for Xstrata, citing "developments overnight", amid speculation it is in the process of improving its offer over fears that Xstrata may reject the current deal.
The news sent Glencore shares were down 3.98%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.30% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.36% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.34% gain.
Later in the day, Germany was to publish official data on industrial production, while the U.S. was to release a report on non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate.