European stocks leapt Thursday, strengthened by a slide in the euro after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi offered little in the way of providing further insight into when the central bank will wind down bond purchases and begin to raise interest rates.
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday, with major indexes up 1% as strong results from a number of bellwethers, including technology behemoth Facebook, jolted equities in to a broad advance.
Asian stocks gave back much of their early gains Friday as trade concerns remained in the spotlight despite easing geopolitical risks.