UPDATE 2-European shares clock best week in nearly two months

  • Reuters
  • Stock Market News
UPDATE 2-European shares clock best week in nearly two months
Credit: © Reuters.

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)

* European miners index logs best week since 2016

* Chipmakers rally, boosting tech stocks

* Sodexo jumps on lifting margin forecast

* Credit Suisse down on Q4 net loss forecast (Updates prices throughout, adds comments throughout)

By Amal S and Shreyashi Sanyal

Jan 8 (Reuters) - European stocks logged their strongest weekly gains since November on Friday, with Germany's DAX hitting a record high on the back of better-than-expected economic data and encouraging earnings updates from chipmakers.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.7% to bring gains for the first week of 2021 to 3%, largely driven by hopes that a Democrat sweep of the U.S. Senate would lead to a large U.S. fiscal stimulus package.

That, along with optimism that the rollout of coronavirus vaccines will fuel a strong global recovery, boosted U.S. and Asian markets to all-time highs. Europe's STOXX 600 trades nearly 5% below its record high hit in February 2020.

Germany's DAX index .GDAXI outperformed, gaining 0.6%, after data showed both industrial output and exports rose more than expected in November. is the powerhouse in Europe. If you get data out with value, especially at these uncertain times, that is going to push prices up and that seems to be what is happening now," ETX Capital analyst Michael Baker said.

A European Commission monthly survey showed economic sentiment in the euro zone ticked up in December, but inflation held in negative territory, lending weight to expectations of loose monetary policy in the bloc. stocks .SX8P topped sectoral gains as chipmakers Infineon IFXGn.DE , AMS AMS.S and ASM International ASMI.AS rose between 1.6% and 6.9% after global peers Micron Technology Inc MU.O and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 005930.KS reported strong earnings.

Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics STM.PA rose 1.9% after its revenue estimate for the fourth quarter came in above the previous range.

Travel stocks got a boost after French catering and food services group Sodexo EXHO.PA raised its margin outlook for the first-half of 2021. Its shares jumped 10.5% to the top of STOXX 600, while peer Compass CPG.L gained 4.2%. miners .SXPP surged 11.5% on the week, the best performance since April 2016, while oil and gas .SXEP stocks were up 9.5% over the same period.

The UK's FTSE 100 .FTSE , heavy on bank and commodity stocks, added just 0.2% to stand 6% higher on the week.

Retailer Marks & Spencer MKS.L slipped 2.4% after it reported another big fall in sales of clothing and homewares in the three months leading up to Christmas. is very clear the gulf between the food business and the clothing and home unit is widening," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse CSGN.S fell 3.6% after it forecast a net loss for its fourth quarter due to higher provisions for a long-running dispute in the United States.

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