European markets closed higher on Friday as positive momentum continued into the end of the week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up by 0.8% by the close. Mining stocks and utilities led gains and were up 1.3% and 1.5% respectively.
All major bourses were in the green, with the Stoxx 600, as well as Germany’s Dax, France’s CAC 40 and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 notching fresh record highs.
“As equities do we’re looking to the future I think. Generally speaking investors are seeing a brighter future ahead for European markets and they’re reflecting that now,” Daniel Morris, chief market strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday.
The U.K. economy emerged from a recession, first-quarter gross domestic product data released Friday showed. GDP rose 0.6% on the previous three months — above the 0.4% estimate. The U.K. had entered a shallow recession in the second half of 2023.