European stock exchanges staged strong gains on positive data from the US, with the London FTSE 100 gaining 2.1% to end the week at 6,215 points.
In Paris the CAC 40 rose 1.5% to 5,070, while in Frankfurt the DAX added 1.4% to close at 7,043.
Banks and other interest-rate sensitive stocks such as insurers were among the largest positive influences on the European market, after the US April jobs report showed a smaller contraction than expected in the labour market and a measure of manufacturing activity beat forecasts. Spain's Banco Santander, up 3.9%, was one of the leading positive weights.
Wall Street stocks were mixed on foot of the good news on the jobs front.
Just before 5.20pm, the Dow Jones traded up 0.2% to 13,037, but the Nasdaq slipped 0.4% to 2,471.
Among stocks in focus, Oil giant Chevron added 0.85% after reporting profits rose to $5.17 billion in the latest quarter, helped by surging crude oil prices.
Dublin's ISEQ index was up 136 points (2.15%) to stand at 6,475. Shares in Irish Life and Permanent jumped 52 cent to €1081 after a better than expected trading update from the lender yesterday, while shares in Anglo Irish Bank were up seven cent to €9.07 ahead of its interim results next week. On the back of falling oil prices, Ryanair shares flew 22 cent higher to €3.18, while Aer Lingus jumped 11 cent to €1.91.
Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index rallied 2%, or 282 points, to close at 14,049 - its highest close in nearly four months.
