European shares rise to new 3-week closing high
LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - European stocks closed higher on Friday, as upbeat earnings news from companies such as luxury goods provider Richemont (CFR.VX) more than outweighed weaker-than-expected U.S. consumer sentiment data.
The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares rose 0.4 percent to a provisional close of 1,018.65 points, its highest close since Oct 21.
Over the week, the index rose 2.6 percent and is up more than 57 percent from the all-time low of March, as investors have seen several major economies emerge from recession.
But the market had to contend with some downbeat macro data.
U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early November to the weakest in three months amid grim expectations for job and income prospects, a survey showed on Friday. The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its preliminary index of sentiment for November fell to 66.0, the lowest since August, from 70.6 in October. ID:nN13145905]
"I thought the market would respond more negatively to the U.S. consumer data," said Heino Ruland, strategist at Ruland Research, in Frankfurt.
"It goes to show that people are convinced that the Federal Reserve will continue with accommodative, if not expansionary, monetary policy. Sometimes Asian markets react more to this sort of data the following Monday, as they rely more on the U.S. consumer."
Corporate news helped to boost stocks.
Richemont, which posted forecast-beating results, surged 5.6 percent.
Wall Street was higher around the time European bourses were closing. Companies' results helped, including those at Walt Disney (DIS.N), which rose 4.4 percent, after its cable business helped to offset weakness in its film studio.
The Dow Jones .DJI, S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq Composite .IXIC were up between 0.5 and 0.7 percent.
In Europe, index heavyweight HSBC (HSBA.L) also helped, rising 1.2 percent on hopes Europe's biggest bank would pay a higher-than-expected dividend, traders said.
(Reporting by Brian Gorman)
