European stock markets rose for a third straight day on Friday, tracking the global equity rally that has sent U.S. stocks to fresh records and Japanese shares to a 26-year high. Car maker shares were again among the biggest advancers after some broker upgrades, handing the sector its best week since July 2016.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday rallied by more than 200 points, putting the benchmark a quarter of the way from breaching 26,000, just 24 hours after marking a round-number milestone at 25,000. The Dow DJIA, +0.88% was up about 220 points, or 0.9%, at 25,294, with the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.70% rising 0.7% at 2,742 and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.83% climbing by 0.8% at 7,136.

Asian shares were mixed on Monday, following the strong lead from Wall Street in the last session. With few data releases expected during the session, many investors awaited earnings releases from regional corporates later in the week.