LONDON (CNN) - Europe's major bourses ended higher on Friday, with tech stocks gaining on the back of a Microsoft-inspired rally on Wall Street.
London's FTSE 100 ended a shade higher at 5,642.5, led by tech shares.
UK telecom testing equipment maker Spirent (SPT) was the main gainer, up 9.1 percent.
Business telecom services provider Colt Telecom (CTM) rose more than 4 percent and software company Mysis (MSY) ended 3.5 percent higher.
But UK supermarkets fell after Asda, owned by Wal-Mart (WMT: Research, Estimates) of the U.S., said it will knock £100 million ($141 million) off the price of goods over the next four months.
Britain's biggest grocer, Tesco (TSCO), which announced price cuts totaling £60 million last week, fell 3.3 percent. Sainsbury (SBRY), the No. 2, dropped 1.4 percent, Morrison Supermarkets (MRW) lost 3.3 percent and Safeway (SFW) declined 3.8 percent.
The Paris-based CAC 40 blue chip index rose 1.8 percent to 5,225.33, with many percentage gainers being tech-related stocks.
Chipmaker ST Microelectronics (PSTM) rose 6.3 percent, Europe's biggest computer services group, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (PCAP), was up 4.8 percent and Europe's No.4 telecom equipment maker, Alcatel (PCGE), rose 3.5 percent.
Europe's biggest media company, Vivendi Universal (PEX), rose 6.0 percent after saying it plans to float its Polish telecom joint venture, Elektrim Telekomunikacja, in the next 18 months
France Telecom (PFTE) climbed 1.9 percent.
Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax edged up nearly 1 percent to 6,029.38. Deutsche Telekom (FDTE), Europe's biggest phone operator by sales, topped the leader board, up 3 percent.
Chemical stocks BASF (FBAS) and Bayer (FBAY) climbed 2.5 percent and 2 percent respectively.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index edged up 1.9 percent, the SMI in Zurich was 1 percent higher and Milan's MIB30 index gained 0.2 percent.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was up 0.7 percent, with the tech sector the main advancer, up 3.8 percent. The tobacco sector declined more than 2 percent.
Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phone handsets, recouped the previous session's loss, rising 3.5 percent. The company said on Thursday it would axe 1,000 jobs in its networks business, amid a slowdown in global telecom sales.
U.S. technology stocks advanced at midday Friday as the second quarter wound down and optimism that the economy and corporate results would start to look better resurfaced.
Six interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and an appeal decision favouring Microsoft lifted sentiment this week and left investors with some good news to digest.
Just ahead of midday trade, the Nasdaq composite index gained 19.56 points to 2,145.02. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 16.44 points to 10,549.77, while the S&P 500 advanced 2.23 to 1,228.43.
In the currency market, the euro was little changed against the U.S. dollar, fetching 84.74 U.S. cents compared with 84.46 in late New York trade on Thursday. 
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