London’s FTSE 100 edged above 7,000 to its highest point for more than a year after positive earnings boosted heavyweight stocks.
The blue-chip index closed at 7,076, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 also rose to 22,491.
Meanwhile, across the pond, an upbeat weekly jobless claims report pushed stocks on Wall Street higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record high at 34,548, 0.93 per cent higher. The S&P 500 gained 0.82 per cent to 4,201 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.37 per cent to 13,632.
However, vaccine stocks dipped after US President Joe Biden backed plans to waive patents on Covid-19 shots.
On Friday, Asian markets started the trading session on a positive note with strong global cues, with stocks of Mainland China, Japan and Hong Kong all edging higher. MSCI’s benchmark for global equity markets, which tracks stocks in 50 countries, edged up about 0.1 per cent, on course for a 0.4 per cent gain this week.
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The Indian equities opened higher for a third straight session on Friday, tracking gains in global peers. The Sensex traded above 400 points up in the early hours, and the Nifty remained above 14,800.