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The pan-European Stoxx 600 index clocked 1.1% higher provisionally, marking a 3.4% surge for the week — its best performance since mid-November.

All sectors were in the green. Basic resources were the biggest gainers with a 2.5% rise, as chemicals and energy stocks both soared around 1.9%.

Inflation in the eurozone declined for a second consecutive month in December. Headline inflation, which includes food and energy costs, came in at 9.2% year-on-year in December, according to preliminary data Friday from the European statistics agency, Eurostat.

It follows November’s headline inflation rate of 10.1%, which represented the first slight contraction in prices since June 2021.

Investors hope falling inflation will forge the path for the European Central Bank to ease its aggressive monetary policy tightening cycle and limit the continent’s economic pain.

Minutes from the last meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, published earlier this week, showed policymakers stateside were seemingly unmoved from their hawkish position as they look to bring inflation back down toward the target.

Global stocks received a boost during the afternoon trade in Europe when Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report showed payroll growth slower in December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.07% shortly after the open. Payroll growth still exceeded expectations.

Nonfarm payrolls skyrocketed by 223,000 for the month, above the Dow Jones estimate of 200,000, while the unemployment rate dipped to 3.5%, 0.2 percentage points below expectations.

Shares in Asia-Pacific ticked higher overnight, led by South Korea’s Kospi index, while U.S. stock futures pointed to a positive open on Wall Street as traders await the key jobs report.