Market update: Bullish comments by the US Fed move European stocks higher

Wall Street advanced higher last week despite lacklustre trading on Friday, which saw the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq both gain 0.1%, while the S&P 500 closed flat. In a second consecutive week of gains, the S&P 500 was up 3.2%, the Dow added 2.9% and the Nasdaq ended the week up 3.5%. In sector terms, health care stocks rose the most while telecoms lagged. Wells Fargo was the first major bank to start off the quarterly earnings season with revenue of $22 billion, in line with analyst forecasts.

European shares are up early this morning as investors warmed up to bullish comments by US Federal Reserve official Charles Evans. According to Evans the US economy is forecast to achieve growth of 2.5% this year, and 3.5% in 2014. In addition, expectations are for an unemployment rate of 7.4% this year, and around 7% the next. At the time of writing this morning, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 and FTSE 100 are up 0.3% and 0.2% respectively. Financials such as Schroders, Lloyds Banking Group and miners BHP Billiton and Antofagasta are among the top risers.