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New York - Stock markets rebounded in Europe and on Wall Street on Friday behind higher oil prices, although worries about the upcoming earnings period cut into the gains in the United States.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day up 1.1%, aided by rising oil prices, and despite poor official manufacturing and trade figures.
In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 closed 1.0% higher and the Paris CAC 40 climbed 1.4%.
And in Milan stocks rose 4%, boosted by several Italian banking shares including Banco Popolare and Unicredit soaring around 10%.
The gains came as oil prices climbed more than 6% on hopes that an April 17 meeting of major producers will result in an agreement to limit output.
Sentiment was also lifted by comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Thursday night that the US economy was on sound footing.
Also boosting the market was a cooling of the Japanese yen, which has moved on to the radar of global investors as it soared to multi-month highs against other currencies.
The Nikkei closed up 0.5% as the dollar in afternoon trade rose to ¥108.77 from ¥108.31 in New York, where it briefly fell to 107.68 yen, a 17-month low.
Near 21:00 GMT, the dollar had fallen back to ¥108.10.
"There was a continued chirpiness to the global markets this morning," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
Earnings worries weigh
But buying momentum slowed later in the global day, with US stocks flirting with negative territory before the S&P closed up 0.3%.
The pullback was likely "due to investors taking some money off the table before earnings season," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standards Financial.
British mining shares were skybound, with Anglo American jumping 8.1%, BHP Billiton 4.6% and Glencore 3.6%.
Petroleum shares rose, with BP advancing 3.3%, France's Total 3.7% and US midsized company Anadarko Petroleum 5.6%.
European banks were strong, with Barclays advancing 2.5%, Societe Generale 2.7% and Germany's Commerzbank 3.1%.
US teen-oriented clothing chain Gap slumped 13.8% after reporting that comparable sales for March fell 6%, including a 14% dive in its Banana Republic chain.
Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing's shares nosedived nearly 13% in Tokyo after announcing net profit in the September-February period dropped about 55% from a year earlier to ¥47bn ($440m) on weaker sales in China, South Korea and the United States, as well as its home market Japan.
