Stocks up as Fed signals end to stimulus programme

Eurostoxx 50: 2,914.76 (+3.43) Frankfurt DAX: 6,938.63 (–7.73) Paris CAC: 3,976.95(+4.57)MOST EUROPEAN stocks rose yesterday, extending last week's rally, as US consumer spending topped forecasts and the Federal Reserve (Fed) signalled it may be strong enough to consider ending stimulus.

The Stoxx 600 rose 0.1 per cent to 276.24 at the close in London, after earlier falling as much as 0.2 per cent.

The gauge rallied 3.1 per cent last week, the most in six months, as investors speculated that Japan would prevent further radiation leaks from its stricken nuclear plant and the US economy grew at a faster than forecast pace.

“The picture still remains very positive in terms of growth and corporate profitability,” said Henk Potts, an equity strategist at Barclays Wealth in London, which oversees $239 billion. “The Middle East and Japan are some of the events that have grabbed a lot of the headlines, created a number of distractions and lifted volatility, but in terms of the picture and the recovery of the global economy, they don’t appear to have done lasting damage.”

Alcatel-Lucent jumped 7.9 per cent to €4.09 after Goldman Sachs raised its recommendation to “buy” from “neutral”.

Nokia advanced 3.6 per cent to €6.19.

Vestas, the world’s biggest wind-turbine maker, rallied 4.9 per cent to 224.70 kroner after Germany’s Greens beat Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition in Baden-Wuerttemberg and stopped her Christian Democrats winning control of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica, Spain’s largest wind-turbine maker, jumped 5.6 per cent to €7.31 and Renewable Energy, a Norwegian maker of solar energy components, advanced 4.7 per cent to €19.53.

Continental rose 4 per cent to €63.40 after Schaeffler sold €1.8 billion ($2.5 billion) of shares in Europe’s second-largest tiremaker to reduce its own debt.

InterContinental Hotels fell 3.8 per cent to 1,229p after rival Marriott International predicted that sales will rise at the lower end of its current forecast in the first quarter.

Accor, Europe’s largest hotelier, lost 3.3 per cent to €30.80.

Royal Philips Electronics retreated 1.8 per cent to €22.18. – (Bloomberg)