AlHijjah 25, 1436, Oct 9, 2015, SPA -- 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, Reuters reported. Shares in trader and miner Glencore rose 6.4 percent, the top gainer in Europe, after zinc prices jumped 8.7 percent following Glencore's announcement to slash its annual zinc output by a third. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index is up 4.8 percent 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 percent on Friday. The Bank of England on Thursday showed no sign it was close to raising rates, while minutes of the most recent U.S. 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. Shares in Swiss flavours and fragrance maker Givaudan rose 4.4 percent 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 percent from the same quarter a year ago, while revenues are set to slump 8.3 percent. Energy companies are likely to see their earnings sinking by 42.4 percent in the third quarter, while utilities are expected to boost their earnings by 21.6 percent. The FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.8 percent 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 percent, the top sectoral gainer in Europe, after prices of major industrial metals rose between 2.1 percent and 3.9 percent.
