European stocks resumed their brisk rally on Friday, set to post their biggest weekly gains since the onset of the financial crisis in late 2008, on hopes of upbeat U.S. jobs data and a bold solution to the euro zone debt crisis at the Dec. 9 summit, according to Reuters. At 0803 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1.2 percent at 988.83 points, up 9 percent so far this week. Banks were among the top gainers, with Commerzbank up 3.3 percent and Natixis up 2.8 percent. Economists expect U.S. nonfarm payrolls, due at 1330 GMT, to have risen by 122,000 last month, which would outpace October's 80,000 and reassure investors about the health of the world's biggest economy. Late on Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a new treaty incorporating tougher budget discipline, a European Monetary Fund to support countries in difficulty and decisions in the euro area taken by majority vote instead of unanimity. "Good speech ahead of European summit on December 9 laying out the broad lines for the new Europe: more solidarity, more discipline, more political responsibility," a Paris-based trader said.
