SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) -- U.S.-listed shares of European companies were higher Friday, led by a report of slower than expected jobs growth in April, which bolstered hopes of a letup in the Federal Reserve's rate-tightening cycle.
At last check, the Bank of New York Europe ADR Index was up 1.44% at 156.58. The broader Bank of New York Composite ADR Index rose 1.39% to 159.56.
In Europe earlier, London's FTSE 100 closed 0.9% higher at 6,091; the Paris-based CAC-40 gained 1% at 5,286; and Frankfurt's DAX Xetra 30 increased 1.2% to 6,113.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index advanced 1% to 342.11.
U.S. stocks rallied following the Labor Department's nonfarm payroll report, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index to multiyear highs.
Mining stocks were among the top percentage-price gainers as gold futures touched a nearly 26-year high.
Shares of BHP Billiton Plc closed up 3.11% at $44.74, while Rio Tinto Plc shares were higher by 3.02% at $242.90.
On the mergers and acquisitions front, shares of British media group Pearson Plc closed up 3.12% at $14.53. Pearson said that it has bought an 80% stake in Italian educational publisher, Paravia Bruno Mondadori Editori. PBM produced net sales of 70 million euros in 2005 and had gross assets of 68 million euros at the year end.
Pearson added that it expects the acquisition to enhance adjusted earnings per share and return on invested capital from 2007 and to be earnings neutral in 2006.
Pharmaceutical stocks were also among the movers.
Shares of Schering AG Group closed up 0.6% at $108.65 after its French subsidiary Schering S.A.S. said that it has completed the sale of the radiopharmaceutical business of CIS bio international to a consortium of Belgian companies.
Financial terms of the deal, which the German pharmaceutical company announced Feb. 23, were not disclosed.
French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis' shares closed down 1.16% at $48.38.
Sanofi said that first-quarter profit rose 54% on the sale of rights to a drug to Pfizer Inc. , rising vaccine sales and lowered overhead costs.
Elsewhere, shares of Air France-KLM slipped 0.69% to $23.14. The carrier said that traffic in April rose 10%, while capacity increased 4.8%. Load factor, or the percentage of the plane filled with passengers, rose 3.9 percentage points to 83.1%, according to the airline.
Air France-KLM said that load factor improved in all sectors. Shares were down 0.95% at $23.08 This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.