LONDON, May 2: European exchanges ended the week sharply higher on Friday following reports that the United States had lost fewer jobs that had been expected in April and might now avoid recession.

The London FTSE 100 index gained 2.11 per cent to end the day at 6,215.50, while in Paris the CAC 40 rose 1.46 per cent to 5,069.71. The Frankfurt Dax added 1.36 per cent to close at 7,043.23.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares added 1.37 per cent to finish at 3,877.50 points.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average in mid-afternoon trade was up 0.19 per cent at 13,034.67 while the Nasdaq composite was moving in the other direction, having lost 0.39 per cent to reach 2,471.09 on poor performances by certain tech stocks.

Powering the strong showing in Europe was a report from the US Labour Department that only 20,000 US jobs had been lost in April. In Paris, economist Marc Toutati of Global Equities concurred.

“Uncle Sam is fighting back. The recession that has been announced so often in the past months has yet to emerge from the heads of certain economists to become reality.”

In London banks drew support from another key US announcement Friday, this time from the Federal Reserve, which unveiled plans to boost its liquidity support for banks suffering from a global credit squeeze.

HBOS gained 6.56 per cent to finish at 495.50 pence while Royal Bank of Scotland added 5.56pc to close at 365.25 pence.

Mining issues were also supported by improved prospects in the United States.

BHP Billiton rose 4.80 per cent to 1,876 pence while Rito Tinto gained 4.63 per cent to reach 6,106 pence.

One of day’s principal losers was British Energy, which fell 3.89 per cent to 728.50 pence on rumours that RWE of Germany had abandoned plans to put forward a takeover offer.

In Paris automakers Renault and Peugeot rose 6.2 per cent to 70.17 euros and 3.22 per cent to 46.43 euros respectively on improved April sales.

In reaction to lower oil prices Air France-KLM climbed 4.66 per cent to 20.90 euros.

In Frankfurt auto manufacturer BMW, heavily dependent on exchange rate factors, jumped 3.89 per cent to 36.62 euros as the dollar gained ground on the euro.

Energy group RWE added 1.37 per cent to end the session at 74.95 euros on reports it had dropped plans to bid for British Energy.

Elsewhere there were gains of 1.82 per cent to 7,665.80 on the Swiss Market Index, 1.92 per cent to 14,060 on the Ibex-35 in Madrid, 0.53 per cent to 3,946.34 on the Bel-20 in Brussels, 1.69 per cent to 34,527 on the SP/Mib in Milan and 1.19 per cent to 481.21 on the AEX in Amsterdam.—AFP