European stock markets gained on Friday as the Greece ended up with successful debt swap deal while United States reported a surprise increase in its jobs data. The US Labor Department released its latest jobs data today according to which 227,000 jobs were created in the month of February while unemployment rate stood at 8.3 percent.

In regards to Greece’s bond swap offer more than 80 percent or private creditors agreed for the restructuring option which is expected to reduce the face value of their bonds. It is expected that the participation rate would increase to 96 percent.  The Greece’s ATHEX Composite index however fell 2.2 percent to 752.35.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.5 percent to close at 265.44 for the day. The FTSE MIB index fell 1.1 percent to 16,479.20.

In Germany, the DAX-30 index surged 0.7 percent to close at 6,880.21 with Linde AG rising 5.6 percent on positive financial results for the fourth quarter. Merck KGaA also gained 3.7 percent on upgraded rating by Deutsche Bank.

In France, CAC-40 index surged 0.3 percent to close at 3,487.48 with top performers as Sanofi SA gaining 0.9 percent.

In London Stock Exchange, Aggreko PLC was up 4 percent on the news of 8.6 percent increase in its net profit for 2011. The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.5 percent to close at 5,887.49. Among other gainers included Cairn Energy PLC gaining 2.7 percent.