On Friday European stocks rose, trimming the biggest weekly drop for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index since August, after China’s Sinopec pledged to invest $7.1 billion in Repsol YPF SA’s Brazilian unit. US futures and Asian shares advanced.

Repsol led a rally in energy producers, jumping six per cent in Madrid trading. Celesio AG and HSBC Holdings plc climbed as analysts recommended the shares. Cap Gemini SA gained 1.3 per cent after rival technology-consulting firm Accenture Plc forecast sales that may top analysts’ estimates.

European shares rose after strong China manufacturing data pleased investors. Energy stocks featured among the top movers. Oil major Repsol jumped 5.6 per cent after Chinese refiner Sinopec Group agreed to pay $7.1 billion for 40 per cent of Repsol’s Brazilian oil deposits. UK stocks rose, sending the FTSE 100 Index to its longest run of weekly gains since April. German stocks rallied, with the benchmark DAX Index paring its biggest weekly drop in six weeks.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was higher, after slipping 0.4 per cent on Thursday.

Chinese manufacturing gathered momentum last month, with the official purchasing managers’ index rising to 53.8 from 51.7 in August, beating forecasts and providing further evidence the economy is pulling smoothly out of a second-quarter swoon.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed, led by property developers as housing starts rose for a third month. Shipping lines declined after an index of cargo rates dropped. Mitsui Fudosan Co. and Mitsubishi Estate Co., Japan’s two biggest real estate companies, both advanced more than three per cent after government data showed Japanese housing starts jumped 20.5 per cent in August. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 per cent while the Topix increased less than 0.1 per cent.