By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Better-than-expected Chinese trade-data spurred risk-on sentiment across financial markets on Friday, sending European stocks higher, with banks leading the charge north.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP +0.68% picked up 0.7% to 285.77, recouping from a 0.2% loss on Thursday, when a dovish turn by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi failed to boost sentiment.
Shares of Vodafone Group PLC UK:VOD +1.75% VOD +0.78% gained 1.8%, after Bank of America Merrill Lynch lifted the wireless-telecom firm to buy from neutral.
Shares of DNB ASA NO:DNB +4.43% rose 4.5%, after Credit Suisse lifted the Norwegian bank to neutral from underperform following a better-than-expected earnings report earlier in the week.
On a downbeat note, shares of Telecom Italia SpA IT:TIT -1.41% shaved off 1.3%. The firm said it didn’t meet its 2012 year-end targets for gross operating profit and net debt reduction. See: Telecom Italia fails to meet 2012 year-end targets .
The broader European gains came as investors took inspiration from a mostly positive trading day in Asia, after Chinese-trade data generated some optimism that the country’s economy is on an upward trend.
Trade data for January showed monthly exports jumped 25% and imports climbed 28.8% from the year-ago period, giving the country a trade surplus of $29.2 billion. All three figures beat market expectations. See: Most Asia stocks up after China data; Japan falls .
“Detailed destination data showed more clearly the impact of the base effect. The degree of [year-on-year] growth improvement in January 2013 for an exporter (or importer) was well correlated with the degree of deterioration in January 2012,” they said.
Later in the day, trade data from the U.S. will be in the limelight, when the Commerce Department reports trade figures at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. See: What to watch on the U.S. economy on Friday .
U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street. See: Stock futures steady ahead of trade data, Moody’s .
In Europe, leaders from the EU member states reportedly moved closer to agreeing on cutting the union’s budget by 34.4 billion euros ($46.1 billion) to €960 billion over the next seven years. Such a cut would mark the first budget reduction in the bloc’s history.
In the U.K., shares of banking heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC UK:HSBA +1.81% HBC -1.16% HK:5 +0.23% rose 1.8%. The FTSE 100 index UK:UKX +0.50% gained 0.5% to 6,260.09.
Antofagasta PLC UK:ANTO +1.07% climbed 1%, helped higher after HSBC raised the miner to neutral from underweight. Read more about London stocks .
The bank also upped Anglo American PLC UK:AAL +1.63% to overweight from neutral, sending its shares 1.9% higher.
And in Germany, the DAX 30 index DX:DAX +0.27% put on 0.4% to 7,622.11.
Shares of BMW AG DE:BMW +1.99% rose 2.2%, after the car maker said it expects further sales growth and targeted an all-time high in 2013. See: BMW targets record year after strong January .
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter based in London. Follow her on Twitter @sarasjolin.
