Global Stocks

European stocks had their best session in three weeks Friday, still bolstered by the Bank of England's ramped-up stimulus efforts on Thursday, with an upbeat U.S. jobs report also providing an added boost.

The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +1.05% popped up 1.1% to close at 341.38, the strongest percentage rise since July 12, according to FactSet data. All but the health-care sector ended higher. The financial SXFR, +1.44% and basic-material SXPR, +1.82% sectors were the best performers.

U.S. stocks rallied to close higher Friday after a stellar jobs report outstripped Wall Street expectations, showing sustained improvement in a labor market that has been spotty over the past few months.

Friday's equity rally nudged the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to close at all-time closing highs.

The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.86% finished up 18.62 points, or 0.9%, to 2,182.87, marking the large-cap benchmark's first record since July 22.

The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.06% climbed 54.87 points, or 1.1%, to close at 5,221.12, for its first record in more than a year, when it finished at 5,218.86 on July 20, 2015.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.04% surged 191.48 points, or 1%, to finish at 18,543.53, as shares of Merck & Co. Inc. MRK, +10.41% skyrocketed 10.4% to lead the blue-chip gauge.

The U.S. economy added 255,000 jobs last month, which follows a stellar gain in June, demonstrating that the economy is still healthy, despite relatively muted gross domestic product. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9% even as the labor-force participation rate edged up to 62.8%, suggesting the labor market is tightening.

Investors flocked to higher-yielding assets on Monday after strong U.S. jobs data on Friday lifted confidence - driving up Asian stocks and the Australian dollar.

Although the strong U.S. data dampened the safe-haven appeal of government debt with Japanese 10-year bond futures tanking in early trade, futures markets were only pricing in a U.S. rate hike only in 2017 as other major central banks looked set to add more stimulus in the coming weeks.

Japan .N225 and Australian markets led regional gainers while mainland China shares .SSEC slipped in early trade as data at the weekend showed a further decline in China's foreign exchange reserves.

The strong U.S. jobs data was a rare bright spot of data in the global economic landscape with Australia's central bank and the Bank of England cutting interest rates last week and New Zealand set to follow in coming days.