European stocks close

European stocks rose, erasing their decline in the final two hours of trading, as the Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives was said to agree to a Senate proposal to increase the government’s debt limit.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.2 percent to 315.55 at the close, rebounding from a decline of as much as 0.6 percent. The equity benchmark climbed to its highest level since Sept. 19 yesterday even as the U.S. Treasury said it will exhaust extraordinary measures to keep the country’s borrowing within a debt limit by tomorrow.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, restarted talks late yesterday on a deal to prevent a default. The proposed agreement would also reopen the federal government, which has been closed since Oct. 1.

National benchmark indexes climbed in 14 of the 18 western-European markets. The U.K’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.3 percent and Germany’s DAX added 0.5 percent. France’s CAC 40 (CAC) Index decreased 0.3 percent.

Danone slid 2.3 percent to 51.83 euros. Comparable revenue in the three months through September gained 4.2 percent from a year earlier, the Paris-based company said in a statement. That missed the median of 15 analysts’ estimates of 4.8 percent. Danone also said that its revenue from baby-nutrition products in Asia has declined following the product scare.

LVMH dropped 4.3 percent to 138.70 euros. The Paris-based company said late yesterday that third-quarter revenue advanced to 7.02 billion euros ($9.5 billion) from 6.9 billion euros. Analysts had predicted 7.24 billion euros, according to the median of 15 estimates.

Ubisoft Entertainment SA sank 26 percent to 8.19 euros, the biggest tumble since its initial public offering in 1996. Electronic Arts Inc.’s smaller French rival cut its full-year sales forecast by as much as a third and predicted an operating loss after delaying the release of two major games.