Market Insider

European banks have their best quarter since 2015

European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi
Sean Gallup | Getty Images

European banks finished the quarter up 11.7 percent Friday, making it the index's best quarter since the first of 2015 when it gained 13.5 percent. The index finished the day up 0.6 percent.

Some of the U.S. shares of the index's biggest bank stocks also traded higher Friday afternoon.

Deutsche Bank recovered from of its Thursday losses, trading up 14 percent in the U.S. on Friday and up 3 percent for the week. Shares of the embattled European bank spiked after AFP, citing a source, reported that the bank may be near a $5.4 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S.-traded shares of UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland were each up 4 percent. Commerzbank was ticking up 1.5 percent Friday.

--CNBC's Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.