European stocks edged up Friday, on track for their best week since February, as expectations for more stimulus from the European Central Bank and a calm reaction to the Italian referendum helped extend a post U.S. election rally.

The Stoxx Europe 600 inched up 0.2% in the early minutes of trading on Friday, building on gains of nearly 4% so far this week, after major U.S. indexes closed Thursday at fresh records.

The European Central Bank on Thursday prolonged its stimulus program by nine months, but at a slower pace. The moves had weighed on 10-year government bonds but boosted shares of banks, who profit from a wider difference between short and long-dated notes.

The Euro Stoxx Banks Index was down 0.6% on Friday but remained on course to end the week up over 12%, while the yield on the 10-year German bund was last at 0.374% from 0.394%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 2.417% from 2.391% on Thursday, its third highest settlement of the year.

Europe's exporters have also gained this week, benefiting from a decline in the euro after the ECB meeting. The euro inched up 0.1% against the dollar to $1.0623 on Friday after its biggest daily drop since the U.K. referendum on Thursday.

The dollar was otherwise slightly firmer as Asian currencies mostly sold off, with the yuan, Korean won and yen weakening modestly against the dollar.

In Asian trade, Japanese stocks rose 1.2% as the yen weakened, while stocks in Australia edged up 0.3%, led by energy and financial stocks.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.5%, however, due to a sharp selloff in casino stocks.

Willa Plank contributed to this article

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 09, 2016 04:25 ET (09:25 GMT)