Equities in Europe edged higher Friday, shrugging off Portugal's debt-rating downgrade by Standard & Poor's, with financials and miners leading the way.
At 1:45 p.m. (I.S.T.), Britain's FTSE and France's CAC advanced 0.2% each while Germany's DAX climbed 0.5%.
Financials were trading broadly higher with Credit Agricole leading the waywith a 2% gain. Societe Generale and Barclays rose about 0.5% each.
In London, miners BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Kazakhmys and Antofagasta added between 0.2% and 0.5%.
In news-driven stocks, French cosmetics giant L'Oreal and German software maker SAP climbed 1.6% and 2.7%, respectively, after broker upgrades.
Elsewhere, Asian markets were trading higher with Japan rising over 1% as investors picked up equities beaten down during the recent correction.