U.S. stocks made strong gains in Friday's trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.5 percent to close at 11,644. The S&P 500 advanced 1.7 percent to end at 1,225 while the NASDAQ moved up 1.8 percent to finish at 2,668.

European stock markets were higher at the close of Friday's trading. London's Financial Times 100 index was up 1.2 percent to close at 5,466. The CAC-40 in Paris gained one percent to finish at 3,218 while the DAX in Frankfurt advanced nine-tenths of a percent to hit 5,967.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost nine-tenths of a percent , to close at 8,748. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.4 percent , to end at 18,502.

The price of gold rose nearly $13 to trade at $1,680.95 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar was up against the yen but lost value compared to the euro.