Friday 17th April

European shares finished up over one percent, rising for the sixth straight week.

Investors were cheered by news from across the Atlantic – the region’s biggest engineering firm Siemens rose on better than expected results from US conglomerate General Electric. Banks gained from Citigroup announcing its first profit in more than a year. Britain’s Barclays, UBS of Switzerland and Germany’s Deutsche Bank all rose. Lloyds was up 16.6 percent. Tech stocks performing strongly including Nokia and Ericsson. Disappointing results from French retailer Carrefour and hotel group Accor pulled their shares down. The dollar has hit a one-month high against the euro. Investors are concerned about the health of the euro zone economy after Moody’s said it may join S&P and Fitch and cut Ireland’s sovereign debt ratings.

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