Earnings lift European shares towards 2015 high
Global sentiment lifted by a new record high for Nasdaq index
 "Earnings lift European shares towards 2015 high")
European shares rose in early deals on Friday, boosted by encouraging earnings reports, while global sentiment was lifted by a new record high for the US blue-chip Nasdaq index.
The FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.4% at 1,627.56 by 0704 GMT.
Top riser was Swedish home appliances maker Electrolux, up 6.3% after reporting a smaller-than-expected fall in first-quarter earnings.
Renault rose 5.1% after it said first-quarter revenue rose 13.7%, as Europe's auto-market upturn more than made up for collapsing Russian sales and a prolonged emerging-market slump.
The FTSEurofirst is less than 2% away from last week's 2015 high, which was its highest since 2000.
Meanwhile the US Nasdaq Composite closed at an all-time high on Thursday, surpassing its own record set just before the dotcom crash in 2000.