LONDON (MarketWatch) — European stocks rose Friday, extending their reach into multiyear highs ahead of the start of a massive asset-purchase program aimed at bolstering inflation levels and growth in the eurozone. The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.24% picked up 0.3% to 394.80, holding steady after Eurostat data released Friday showed eurozone gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2014 from the third quarter. That matched the initial figure published last month. The Stoxx 600 index on Thursday ended at its highest level since 2007. Much of the strength in equities on Friday was coming from so-called periphery markets. Spain’s IBEX 35 IBEX, -0.07% rising 0.2% to 11,147.40, Italy’s FTSE MIB FTSEMIB, +0.43% higher by 0.4% to 22,476.10 and Portugal’s PSI 20 PSI20, +0.92% gaining 0.5% to 5,665.16. The moves came as borrowing costs for Italy, Spain and Portugal dropped to the lowest levels on record Friday, ahead of the European Central Bank’s first government-bond buys on Monday under its 1.1-trillion-euro quantitative-easing program. After logging new all-time highs on Thursday, Germany’s DAX 30 DAX, +0.08% edged up 0.1% to 11,515.62, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 UKX, -0.13% shed 0.1% to 6,951.44. France’s CAC 40 Meanwhile, the euro EURUSD, -0.74% was trading at $1.097 compared with $1.030 on Thursday. The currency pair will be in focus with the widely watched U.S. jobs report for February, due at 1:30 p.m. London time, or 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The shared currency fell below the $1.10 level on Thursday as ECB President Mario Draghi discussed the QE plan.

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