German equities ended a week of solid gains, with Frankfurt pushing up 121.26 to 4,690.99 on the Xetra DAX. This was 44 points short of the session peak but still left the benchmark up a net 4.7 per cent in five days.

Financials surged, with Allianz up 28.40 deutschmarks at DM568.50 and Munich Re gaining DM25 at DM765. Dresdner Bank shone in an upbeat banking sector, advancing DM2.20 to DM64.50. Amsterdam ended 20.46 higher at 993.16 on the AEX index after a strong day for financials. ING rose 3.40 guilders to Fl90.40 and ABN-Amro gained Fl1 to Fl35 in 7.6 million shares traded.

Paris ended below the best of the day, with the CAC-40 index up 39.50 at 3,522.93 after touching a peak of 3,551.31. LVMH advanced 64 francs or 6.6 per cent to Ffr1,030 as Asian economic concerns eased. Alstom jumped Ffr8.40 to Ffr138.4 after replacing Schneider on CDC Bourse's recommended list. Schneider came off Ffr4.20 at Ffr329.8.

Zurich closed up almost 2 per cent helped by the rally on Wall Street, and the SMI index gained 122 to 6,550.60. Stable Swiss consumer prices in October also helped positive sentiment. Shares that have been under strong pressure over the past few months moved ahead while defensive stocks underperformed. Milan followed other European bourses and Wall Street higher, with the Mibtel index up 272 or 1.4 per cent to 19,825.

Madrid gained ground as bank merger speculation offset jitters over Brazil's fiscal austerity package, and the general index closed up 21.26 or 2.8 per cent to 771.65.