European shares inched higher on Thursday at the end of a choppy day, with food company Nestle gaining after an encouraging earnings update and Ferrovial leading the advance on a broker's upgrade. Nestle rose 2 percent as the food group confirmed its full-year outlook after first-quarter underlying sales growth beat expectations.

The S&P 500 and the Dow eked out a modest advance Thursday to notch new 2016 highs, overcoming disappointing bank earnings as a drop in unemployment claims pointed to strength in the jobs market.

Asian stocks were subdued on Friday as caution over a weekend meeting of oil producers tempered risk sentiment, while the region's markets took China's relatively upbeat GDP data in stride.

Based on MarketWatch materials