European shares set for best week since January

Top European stocks climbed to a one-month high on Friday and were set for their best weekly gain since late January on renewed hopes that central banks would keep monetary policy loose for longer.

US Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed the central bank thought the economy was close to warranting a rate hike but decided it was prudent to wait for evidence a global economic slowdown was not knocking the United States off course.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 1 per cent at 1,441.68 points by 0706 GMT after rising to a one-month high of 1,442.25, helped by a rally in commodity stocks.

The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index surged 3.4 per cent, the top sectoral gainer in Europe. Glencore rose nearly 6 per cent after saying it would slash its annual output by a third.