(Reuters) - A strong oil sector and firming expectations of more monetary easing from the world's big central banks drove European shares half a percent higher on Friday, ending a volatile week marked by a series of lukewarm corporate earnings.
Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch InBev <ABI.BR> topped Europe's main index, up 4.6% after the debt-heavy brewer said it had agreed to sell its Australian operations to Japan's Asahi <2502.T>.
New York Federal Reserve chief John Williams on Thursday said policymakers could not wait for economic disaster to hit before adding stimulus, cementing expectations of a cut in U.S. interest rates next week and supporting stock markets globally.
The pan-European stocks benchmark <.STOXX>, which hit a 3-week low on Thursday, rose 0.5% by 0705 GMT, tracking overnight gains in Asia and on Wall Street.
The oil and gas sector <.SXEP> rose 0.55% as crude prices gained on the back of the latest signs of tension between the United and States and Iran.
(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)
