New | Mixed trading for Chinese ADRs as US, European stocks rally

A little clarity from Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen that interest rates in the United States will rise within this year did the trick for markets on Friday.

In Europe, key markets closed at two-week highs.  Britain’s  FTSE 100 gained  2.47 per cent; France’s CAC 40 was up  3.07 per cent and Germany’s DAX rose  2.77 per cent.

In midday trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.19 per cent; the Nasdaq rose 0.35 per cent and the S&P 500 climbed 0.74 per cent.

It was a mixed morning for Chinese American Depository Receipts trading in the US.

E-commerce firm JD.com was up 3.27 per cent. Web-services firm Baidu, which has just announced a partnership deal with Microsoft to help market the Windows 10 operating system in China, gained 1.86 per cent.

In other tech firms, internet security company Qihoo 360 added 0.74 per cent while car website Autohome gained 0.66 per cent. TAL Education, a provider of after-school tutoring services, was up 0.56 per cent.