The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 indexes posted their biggest weekly gains in more than two months, led by exporters such as Royal Philips Electronics NV and Siemens AG.
Julius Baer Holding AG, a Swiss bank, jumped 8.3 percent yesterday after saying the business climate has "improved significantly." National Grid Transco Plc fell 2 percent after 1.25 million customers of its Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc unit were left without power in North America's largest blackout.
The Stoxx 600 rose 0.2 percent to 213.52, for a 2.7 percent gain on the week. The index has climbed for the past seven sessions, the longest winning streak since Dec. 30, 1999. The Stoxx 50 index advanced for the sixth day in seven, adding 0.1 percent to 2496.71. It rose 2.8 percent during the week.
The dollar gained 0.3 percent against the euro in the past five days, lifting the value of European companies' US sales.
It had its second weekly gain in three against the euro on evidence growth in the US is improving. Europe's 300 biggest companies rely on the US for about a fifth of their sales, according to HSBC Holdings Plc.
Rays of hope
"We're seeing rays of hope," said Kevin Lilley, a fund manager at Royal London Asset Management who manages the equivalent of US$800 million and recently bought shares of Clariant AG, the world's second-largest specialty-chemicals maker. "My view is that the market's going to go up."
The US economy is showing signs of accelerating as Europe's flounders. The July rise in US retail sales was the biggest in four months, and manufacturing expanded last month for the first time since February. GDP in the 12-nation euro region, meantime, was unchanged in the second quarter with Germany's economy, Europe's biggest, shrinking 0.1 percent.
Benchmark indexes advanced in nine of the 12 Western European markets open yesterday. Germany's DAX slid 0.3 percent, cutting its weekly advance to 3.4 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 climbed 0.2 percent, for a five-day gain of 2.4 percent. France's CAC rose 0.5 percent. It gained 3.6 percent on the week. Greek, Austrian, Spanish, Luxembourg and Italian markets were closed.
September futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index of companies based in the 12 countries sharing the euro dropped 0.1 percent to 2561. The index gained 0.2 percent to 2548.86.
Equity markets
"We are positive for equity markets," said Andrew Hornig, chief strategist at F&C Manage-ment Ltd, which oversees US$97.5 billion.
"We think they will go higher," he said, because economic reports and corporate profits will improve in coming months.
Philips, which gets more than 25 percent of sales from the world's biggest economy, advanced 7.7 percent in the past five sessions. Siemens, Germany's largest engineering company, added 6.1 percent. US sales amount to almost a quarter of its total.
Daimlerchrysler
DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-largest carmaker, added 5.9 percent. It relies on the US for more than 50 percent of its sales. Volkswagen AG, which makes about a fifth of its annual sales in the US, gained 12 percent.
Swiss Reinsurance Co, the world's second-largest reinsurer, led gains in the Stoxx 50 this week, adding 8.2 percent.
The Stoxx 600 insurance index added 4.4 percent this week, the second-best performer among 18 industry groups. Automakers, up 6.4 percent, were the best performing industry.
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