Global Stocks

European stocks ended Friday little changed, but posted weekly gains, as investors sifted through corporate earnings reports for reasons to cheer after the European Central Bank failed to deliver a boost the previous day.

The marginal decline in equities picked up from a downward move from Thursday, when the pan-European index shed 0.1% after the ECB decided to leave monetary policy unchanged. The bank, lead by President Mario Draghi, expects its interest rates to remain at the present level or lower for an "extended period," and it plans to continue its bond-buying program until at least March 2017.

U.S. stocks rose cautiously Friday to notch a fourth week of gains, with a rally by telecom shares offsetting weakness in the industrial sector as investors awaited next week's Federal Reserve policy statement.

The S&P 500 Index SPX, +0.46% advanced 9.86 points, or 0.5%, to close at a new all-time high of 2,175.03, boosted by 1.3% jumps in both telecom and utilities, sectors typically viewed as defensive.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.29% rose 53.62 points, or 0.3%, to close at 18,570.85, led by gains in Visa Inc. V, +1.42% American Express Co. AXP, +1.34% and Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +1.38% offsetting declines in General Electric Co. GE, -1.63% and Caterpillar Inc. CAT, -0.79% The gains come after the blue-chip gauge snapped its nine-session win streak on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.52% rose 26.26 points, or 0.5%, to close at 5,100.16, its highest close of 2016.

Asian shares held near nine-month highs on Monday as worries over the impact of Britain's Brexit vote eased amid efforts to maintain growth, while the dollar was buoyed by a run of solid U.S. economic data.

Policy makers from the Group of 20 countries agreed to work to support global growth and better share the benefits of trade, in a weekend meeting dominated by the impact of Britain's exit from Europe and fears of rising protectionism.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.1 percent to stand just below its nine-month peak hit on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.4 percent.