LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - European shares advanced for the fourth straight session on Monday, with commodity stocks leading the gainers as raw material prices benefited from a weaker U.S. dollar, but retailer H&M fell after weak October sales.
By 0807 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,026.33 points, after closing 0.4 percent higher on Friday to hit a three-week closing for the second day in a row.
Miners were in demand with spot gold hitting a record high as investors maintained their appetite for gold as a hedge against currencies.
BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Anglo American , Xstrata and Randgold Resources were up 2.4-4.4 percent.
Crude prices were also higher, aiding energy producers such as BP, Total and Royal Dutch Shell, which put on 0.1-0.4 percent.
'We have overcome this (weakness in late October and early November) because macro-economic data came in much better than expected, even today the Japanese GDP is way stronger from what economists expected,' said Franz Wenzel, strategist at AXA Investment Managers in Paris.
'All of that confirms that ... the market is on an uptrend which could easily take the market another 10 to 15 percent higher till the year end. We are basically in the midst of an year-end rally.'
The pan-European index has rallied 59 percent since hitting a trough in early March, and is up 23 percent for the year.
Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz dropped 3.4 percent, after it posted an unexpected 3 percent drop in sales at established stores in October, blaming the economic conditions in some of its major markets.
Also on the downside, Vivendi slipped 2.4 percent. The French entertainment group on Friday gained control of Brazilian telecom company GVT for up to $2.39 billion, trumping Spain's Telefonica to gain a foothold in Latin America's biggest market.
Telefonica shares were up 0.6 percent.
(Reporting by Dominic Lau) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/ (dominic.lau@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5440; Reuters Messaging: dominic.lau.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
By 0807 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,026.33 points, after closing 0.4 percent higher on Friday to hit a three-week closing for the second day in a row.
Miners were in demand with spot gold hitting a record high as investors maintained their appetite for gold as a hedge against currencies.
BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Anglo American , Xstrata and Randgold Resources were up 2.4-4.4 percent.
Crude prices were also higher, aiding energy producers such as BP, Total and Royal Dutch Shell, which put on 0.1-0.4 percent.
'We have overcome this (weakness in late October and early November) because macro-economic data came in much better than expected, even today the Japanese GDP is way stronger from what economists expected,' said Franz Wenzel, strategist at AXA Investment Managers in Paris.
'All of that confirms that ... the market is on an uptrend which could easily take the market another 10 to 15 percent higher till the year end. We are basically in the midst of an year-end rally.'
The pan-European index has rallied 59 percent since hitting a trough in early March, and is up 23 percent for the year.
Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz dropped 3.4 percent, after it posted an unexpected 3 percent drop in sales at established stores in October, blaming the economic conditions in some of its major markets.
Also on the downside, Vivendi slipped 2.4 percent. The French entertainment group on Friday gained control of Brazilian telecom company GVT for up to $2.39 billion, trumping Spain's Telefonica to gain a foothold in Latin America's biggest market.
Telefonica shares were up 0.6 percent.
(Reporting by Dominic Lau) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/ (dominic.lau@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5440; Reuters Messaging: dominic.lau.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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