European stocks close:

European stocks climbed as Germany’s top constitutional court said it will proceed with a ruling on the country’s role in the euro-area bailout fund and speculation grew that the Federal Reserve will boost stimulus.

Fiat SpA (F) and Daimler AG (DAI) led a gauge of automakers higher. Burberry Group Plc plunged by a record after forecasting full- year profit will be at the lower end of analyst estimates. Rival luxury-goods companies Hugo Boss AG and Cie. Financiere Richemont SA retreated more than 5 percent.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) added 0.3 percent.

The Fed will give its latest policy statement on Sept. 13, following a two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting. On Aug. 31, Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. central bank will provide further stimulus as needed to cement a recovery, citing his concern about the jobless rate.

Tomorrow, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe will decide whether to halt the country’s participation in the 500 billion-euro ($640 billion) European Stability Mechanism, the euro area’s permanent bailout fund. A bid by German lawmaker Peter Gauweiler to get the hearing delayed after the ECB pledged unlimited funds to buy government debt failed today.

Parliamentary elections are due to be held in the Netherlands tomorrow, and euro-area finance ministers are meeting in Cyprus on Sept. 14.

National benchmark indexes rose in 15 of the 18 western European markets.

FTSE 100 5,790.46 -2.74 -0.05% CAC 40 3,537.08 +31.03 +0.89% DAX 7,311.42 +97.72 +1.35%

Billionaire investor George Soros said German-led austerity demands worsen the debt crisis and risk pushing Germany into a depression that’s already taking hold of the euro area’s rim.

A policy of fiscal retrenchment “is pushing Europe into a deeper and longer depression,” Soros said during a speech in Berlin yesterday. “The German public doesn’t yet feel it and doesn’t quite believe it, but it’s all too real in the periphery and it will reach Germany in the next six months or so. My message is that the looming depression is largely self-inflicted and the nightmare can be escaped.”

Fiat, Italy’s largest automaker, advanced 1.7 percent to 4.66 euros and Daimler gained 1.7 percent to 39.45 euros.

Burberry (BRBY) plummeted 21 percent to 1,082 pence, the largest decline since its initial public offering in July 2002. Britain’s biggest maker of luxury goods said adjusted pretax profit in the year through March will be at the lower end of analyst estimates, which range from 407 million pounds ($652 million) to 454 million pounds.

Hugo Boss sank 7.7 percent to 71.21 euros in Frankfurt and Richemont, the biggest maker of jewelry, lost 5.1 percent to 60.90 Swiss francs in Zurich. Christian Dior SA (CDI) and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (MC) dropped 4.7 percent to 111.75 euros and 3.4 percent to 127.70 euros, respectively.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS), the biggest maker of wind turbines, dropped 6.2 percent to 43.80 kroner. Credit Suisse Group AG said the company may undertake a one-for-one rights offer with a 50 percent discount to the current share price.

Enagas SA (ENG) sank 7 percent to 14.63 euros, the biggest drop since March, as investor Sagane Inversiones sold a 5 percent stake in the operator of Spain’s natural-gas grid. The shares were sold for 14.70 euros apiece, according to a filing.