BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks rose on Friday and remained on course to notch their best weekly performance in two months, as optimism prevailed about a possible trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico and the prospect of more stimulus on both sides of the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, all eyes were on a crucial jobs report in the U.S. that could reinforce expectations of an interest rate cut in coming months.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.8 percent at 377 after closing marginally lower in the previous session.
The German DAX was also up 0.8 percent, while France's CAC 40 index was rallying 1.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.7 percent.
Energy stocks were broadly higher, with BP Plc and Total SA rising over 1 percent each as oil prices extended overnight gains amid indications that OPEC and allies may extend crude supply cuts.
Iron ore miner Ferrexpo jumped 4.3 percent after issuing an upbeat trading update.
Tabletop gaming retailer Games Workshop soared 5.3 percent on saying its full-year profit would rise 7 percent.
Royal Mail lost 2.7 percent as HSBC cut its rating on the stock.
French drug maker Sanofi jumped nearly 5 percent after appointing a new chief executive.
In economic releases, Germany's industrial output slid 1.9 percent sequentially in April, in contrast to a 0.5 percent rise seen in March, a government report showed. Production was forecast to drop marginally by 0.2 percent.
Germany's exports decreased by seasonally adjusted 3.7 percent month-on-month in April, in contrast to a 1.6 percent rise in March. Imports fell 1.3 percent, reversing March's 0.7 percent increase.
French industrial output rose 0.4 percent in April from March when it was down 1.1 percent, official data showed. The country's trade deficit narrowed in April after widening in March.
U.K. house prices grew only 0.5 percent month-on-month in May after gaining 1.2 percent in April, figures from the Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax and IHS Markit showed. Nonetheless, this was the second consecutive rise in prices and above the forecast of flat growth.
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