Top European stocks climbed to a one-month high on Friday and were set for their best weekly gain since late January on renewed hopes that central banks would keep monetary policy loose for longer.
Shares in trader and miner Glencore rose 6.4 per cent, the top gainer in Europe, after zinc prices jumped 8.7 per cent following Glencore’s announcement to slash its annual zinc output by a third.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index is up 4.8 per cent so far this week, with investors back buying equities, after a sharp sell-off in August and September, on improving sentiment and some stabilisation in commodity prices. The index was up 0.8 per cent on Friday.
The Bank of England on Thursday showed no sign it was close to raising rates, while minutes of the most recent US Federal Reserve meeting showed it thought the economy was close to warranting a rate hike but decided it was prudent to wait for evidence a global economic slowdown was not knocking the United States off course.
“The Fed minutes indicate that it will be patient in raising rates. The jury is still out whether the Fed will hike rates in December or early 2016, but this seems to be enough to lift global stocks after a horrible third quarter,’’ Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets, said.
“Focus will be on earnings as the market will get more information about how much the emerging market slowdown has damaged earnings and how much bad new has been priced in.’’
Shares in Swiss flavours and fragrance maker Givaudan rose 4.4 per cent after the world’s biggest crafter of scents and tastes maintained its financial targets for the five years ending 2015.
According to Thomson Reuters data, the third-quarter earnings of companies in the STOXX Europe 600 index are expected to fall 4.1 per cent from the same quarter a year ago, while revenues are set to slump 8.3 per cent.
Energy companies are likely to see their earnings sinking by 42.4 per cent in the third quarter, while utilities are expected to boost their earnings by 21.6 per cent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.8 per cent at 1,438.61 points by 0732 GMT after rising to a one-month high of 1,442.25, boosted by a rally in commodity stocks.
The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index surged 3.4 per cent, the top sectoral gainer in Europe, after prices of major industrial metals rose between 2.1 per cent and 3.9 per cent.