(Fixes typo in first paragraph)
By Joice Alves
LONDON (Reuters) – European banks surged on Friday, rising to a one-month high, gaining support from U.S. lenders, which reported better-than-expected results in the first quarter.
The STOXX 600 index of European banks gained as much as 3% to reach its highest since mid-March after JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo beat estimates.
Banks largely outperformed the broader market, with the STOXX 600 index climbing 0.6% as risk assets gained support from expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve may soon finish raising interest rates.
Germany’s Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank rose 5% and 4.2%. Societe Generale, UBS, Credit Suisse and BPER Banca rose between 2% and 4%.
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In London, Standard Chartered shares rose 4.3% to three-week highs, Barclays shares were up 3%, touching a five-week high, while HSBC shares up 3.1% to one month highs.
(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Joice Alves; Editing by Amanda Cooper)