By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Glencore rallies after cutting zinc production

European stock markets moved firmly higher on Friday, a day after minutes from the Federal Reserve's September policy meeting confirmed the U.S. central bank's reluctance to lift interest rates amid slowing global growth and stubbornly low inflation.

The prospect of lower interest rates has been a boon to riskier assets like stocks, lifting their appeal to investors.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index jumped 0.3% to 362.59, setting it on track for a sixth straight session of gains, which would be the longest winning streak since mid-July. For the week, the pan-European benchmark was set for a 4.7% advance, the largest since late January.

The optimism in European stock markets follows last Fridays surprisingly weak U.S. labor market, which fueled expectations the Fed won't start to tighten monetary policy this year. Minutes from the central bank's Sept. 17 meeting -- held before the lackluster jobs report -- supported that notion.

Resource rally: Hopes the Fed will push a rate hike into 2016 sparked sharp advances in commodities on Friday. Crude oil was trading above $50 (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) and copper rallied almost 3% to $2.41 a pound.

Shares of resource companies jumped on the back of that. Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) rose 9.2%, Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) added 4.2%, and BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN)(BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) gained 3.8%.

Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) (GLEN.LN) shot 11% higher after the commodities and trading giant said it would cut its zinc production by a third after a collapse in prices of the industrial metal (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/glencore-cutbacks-shift-to-zinc-in-metal-rout-2015-10-09). Zinc prices surged to a month-high (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/zinc-soars-to-highest-level-in-2-months-as-glencore-cuts-production-2015-10-09) after the Glencore announcement.

Among oil-related companies, shares of Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) climbed 6.4%, A.P. Moeller-Maersk AS (MAERSK-B.KO) added 2.9%, and Total SA (TOT) (TOT) gained 1.5%.

Indexes: The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index was up 0.5% (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) to 6,409.01. The benchmark is set for an eight straight day in positive territory, buoyed by the recent rally for resource companies.

Germany's DAX 30 index gained 0.9% to 10,079.70, while France's CAC 40 index added 0.5% to 4,699.53.

Other movers: Shares of ArcelorMittal (MT) jumped 8.2% after J.P. Morgan Cazenove lifted the steelmaker to overweight from neutral, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Shares of Norsk Hydro ASA (NHYDY) gained 6.1% after Goldman Sachs raised the Norwegian aluminum maker to buy from neutral. Norsk Hydro said Friday it has signed a letter of intent to buy a further 40% stake in Brazilian bauxite producer (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/norsk-hydro-signs-up-to-buy-vales-mrn-stake-2015-10-09) Mineracao Rio do Norte.

SABMiller PLC (SAB.JO) (SAB.JO) added 1.5% after the brewer upped its cost-savings target by over $550 million (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sabmiller-lifts-its-cost-savings-target-2015-10-09). The move is seen as the company's latest attempt to underscore the strength of its business in the face of a takeover approach by Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI.BT) (ABI.BT).

Data: Consumer prices continued to slide in Greece in September, falling 1.7% () compared with a year earlier.

In France, industrial production rose 1.6% in August (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/french-industrial-output-jumps-in-august-2015-10-09), exceeding analyst expectations.

And in the U.K., data showed the country's trade deficit narrowed to 3.3 billion pounds (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trade-data-add-gloom-to-uk-economic-outlook-2015-10-09) ($5.05 billion) in August.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 09, 2015 10:11 ET (14:11 GMT)