TOKYO -- Stocks rose slightly in European trading on Friday after a mixed session in Asia, where many regional markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Tokyo ended Friday up less than 0.1% after hitting a 34-year high earlier in the day. It closed at 36,897.42, helped by comments from a Bank of Japan official who said the central bank would likely keep its monetary policy loose even if it raises its -0.1% benchmark rate above zero.
Germany's DAX was little changed at 16,973.32 and Paris' CAC 40 was also flat at 7,665.13. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 7,605.15.
The future of the S.&The P 500 gained less than 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged.
Mainland Chinese markets were closed and Hong Kong had a mid-day session, where the Hang Seng lost 0.8% to 15,746.58. Markets in China will be closed next week.
China's securities regulator ended a week of measures aimed at shoring up faltering financial markets by announcing it had punished dozens of people at one of the country's biggest brokerages for insider trading and other crimes.
S from Australia&The P/ASX 200 added almost 0.1% to 7,644.80. Thailand's SET rose 0.2%.
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday on signs that the labor market remains remarkably strong. the&The P 500 rose 0.1% and the Dow Jones also marked an all-time high, gaining 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%.
The latest sign of strength in the U.S. economy came from a report that fewer workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than expected.
In previous months, such a report could have hurt the stock market due to concerns that it would mean a longer wait for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. But investors have begun to accept the idea that good news about the economy is good for stocks because it will boost company profits.
In other trading on Friday, benchmark U.S. crude added 16 cents to $76.38 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 4 cents to $81.59 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar slowly rose to 149.39 Japanese yen from 149.32 yen. The euro cost $1.0767, down from $1.0780.
