European stock markets entered the weekend with gains on Friday. Investor sentiment was helped by a positively received US jobs report. On the Amsterdam AEX index, almost all 25 funds ended in the green. Shell was among the leaders thanks to further recovery in oil prices. The oil and gas group provided an overview of the performance of various segments during the last quarter.

The AEX rose 1.4 percent to close at 724.26 points. Midcap rose 1 percent to 968.69 points. Key indicators in London, Frankfurt and Paris posted gains of up to 1.5 percent.

The jobs report showed, among other things, that average hourly wages in the U.S. rose at a slower pace in December. As a result, fears of a wage-price spiral faded into the background and the U.S. central bank umbrella, the Federal Reserve, may be slow to raise interest rates to combat high inflation.

Shell topped the AEX with a price gain of 2.1 percent. The group expects gas trading revenue to have improved significantly over the last quarter. With that, Shell seems to have succeeded in overcoming the challenges of its business unit from the third quarter. U.S. crude rose 1.4 percent to $74.73 a barrel, while Brent rose 1.2 percent to $79.62 a barrel.

Chip supplier Besi rose strongly, adding 2.5 percent to the main index at Beursplein 5. Chip machine maker ASML, technology investor Process, insurer Aegon and payments processor Adeon gained up to 2.2 percent. Music giant Universal Music Group (UMG) was the only decliner on the AEX with minus 0.1 percent.

In the MidCap, metals specialist Advanced Metallurgy Group (AMG) rose nearly 4 percent, followed by industrial supplier Alberts (up 3.7 percent). Biotechnologist Galapagos, postal and parcel company PostNL and food delivery company Just Eat Takeaway were last among mid-cap funds on the Tamrock with minuses of up to 0.5 percent.

The euro was at $1.0619 against $1.0525 the previous day.