European stocks close

European stocks advanced, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index posting its biggest four-day rally since November 2008, as the leaders of Germany and France gave themselves three weeks to create a plan to recapitalize banks. Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, racing to stamp out the sovereign-debt crisis that threatens to engulf the financial system, set an end-of-October deadline to devise a plan to recapitalize banks, get Greece on the right track and fix Europe’s economic governance.

FTSE 100 5,399      +95.60 +1.80%, CAC 40 3,161      +65.91 +2.13%, DAX 5,847  +171.59 +3.02%     

National benchmark indexes rose in 15 of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index gained 1.8 percent. France’s CAC 40 Index climbed 2.1 percent and Germany’s DAX Index jumped 3 percent. All three gauges posted their biggest four-day rallies since 2008.

BP Plc contributed the most to the gauge’s advance. Premier Oil Plc rose 3.3 percent after HSBC Holdings Plc upgraded its shares. Erste Group Bank AG plunged 9.2 percent after saying it will post a full-year loss because of writedowns at its units in Hungary and Romania. Dexia SA dropped 4.7 percent after earlier falling as much as 36 percent when trading in the shares resumed.

Maurel SA rallied 5.5 percent to 13.42 euros. The company said it has found oil sandstones at a well at the Sabanero license in Colombia and oil samples taken have confirmed the field extension to the north east. In a statement, Maurel said it will drill three more wells in 2011 and 2012.

ABB Ltd., the world’s largest maker of power-transmission gear, added 3.5 percent to 16.99 Swiss francs. Jefferies Group Inc. raised its recommendation on the company’s shares to “buy” from “hold.”

Erste Group, eastern Europe’s second-biggest lender, slumped 9.2 percent to 18.80 euros. The bank said it will post a full-year loss of as much as 800 million euros ($1.1 billion) after writedowns at its Hungarian and Romanian units.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI), eastern Europe’s third- biggest lender, plunged 4.7 percent to 21.20 euros.