European shares edge higher as Scotland rejects independence

European stock markets edged higher on Friday as investors welcomed news that Scotland voted against independence from the United Kingdom.

Stocks were supported by favorable outcomes in two ‘risk events’ this week. The Federal Reserve reiterated its commitment to facilitating the U.S. economic recovery by maintaining its view on the timing of interest-rate hikes, as well as Scotland’s vote to remain part of the United Kingdom.

-  Stoxx      600   advanced 0.21 percent or 0.74 points to  348.52

-  Stoxx 50   advanced 0.06% or 1.88 points to 3273.25

Scotland rejected independence in a referendum that left the centuries-old United Kingdom intact but paved the way for a major transfer of powers away from London.

Despite a surge in nationalist support in the final fortnight of the campaign, the "No" camp secured 55.30 percent of the vote against 44.70 percent for the pro-independence "Yes" camp in Thursday`s referendum.

The British pound began Friday strongly before recoiling slightly. The euro tumbled to 78.10 pence on initial returns pointing to a victory for the "No" camp.

hat was the lowest level since July 2012 and compared with 78.82 pence late in New York on Thursday. It later recovered to 78.65 pence.

At the same time, sterling jumped to a two-and-a-half-week peak at $1.6525, before dipping to $1.6356.

The British pound had come under severe pressure in recent weeks as opinion polls had showed rising support for the "Yes" campaign.

-The British  FTSE 100   advanced 0.27% or 18.63 points to   6837.92

-The French  CAC 40   fell 0.08% or 3.48 points to 4461.22

-Frankfurt’s  DAX 30   advanced 0.01% or 10.90 points to  9799.26

In the U.S., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. surged in its trading debut on the New York Stock Exchange, after the company raised a record-breaking $21.8 billion in an initial public offering.

The Chinese company’s shares rose 38 percent to $94 apiece as of 11:53 a.m. in New York, after the IPO was priced at $68. The e-commerce company, which started in 1999 with $60,000 cobbled together by founder Jack Ma, is now valued at $231.7 billion.

That makes it larger than Amazon.com Inc. and EBay Inc. combined, and more valuable than all but 9 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.