LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares advanced on Friday ahead of some key U.S. jobs data, with mineral extractors in the lead. Rio Tinto (RTP 182.68, -6.94, -3.66%) (UK:RIO 3,035, +267.00, +9.82%) shares surged 8.2% after the mining giant rejected a $19.5 billion deal to sell part of itself to China's Aluminium Corp., announced the launch of a heavily discounted rights issue to raise about $15.2 billion and signed a joint venture deal with BHP Billiton (BHP 57.04, -0.45, -0.78%) (UK:BLT 1,609, +153.00, +10.51%) . BHP Billiton shares jumped 10.7%. The U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 1.5% to 4,453.96 the German DAX 30 index climbed 0.9% to 5,108.56 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 1.1% to 3,348.39.
