(Bloomberg) -- European equities traded at a seven-week high, coming close to erasing their post-Brexit losses as companies from Zurich Insurance Group AG to KBC Group NV posted profit that beat projections.
Zurich Insurance added 4.1 percent after saying earnings fell less than projected. Belgian lender KBC advanced 5.4 percent after posting better-than-expected profit and revenue and cutting its forecast for 2016 loan-loss provisions in Ireland. K+S AG, Europe's biggest potash producer, sank 8.5 percent after saying it expects lower earnings in 2016. Miners and energy producers fell for a second day as crude traded below $42 a barrel.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.4 percent at 11:12 a.m. in London, erasing an earlier drop to rise for a sixth time in seven days amid optimism that central banks will support growth and a better-than-forecast jobs report in the U.S. The volume of Stoxx 600 shares changing hands was about a third lower than the 30-day average, making the moves more volatile.
While the Stoxx 600's valuation remains low relative to the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI All-Country World Index, it has surpassed 15 times estimated earnings, approaching this year's high. The gauge closed 0.7 percent lower than its pre-Brexit level on Wednesday, lagging behind U.S. and Asian shares, which have already recovered.
To contact the reporter on this story: Roxana Zega in Zurich at rzega@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net.
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