European stocks close:

European stocks rose as German business confidence unexpectedly gained and U.S. companies from General Electric Co. to Schlumberger Ltd. reported earnings that beat estimates, offsetting higher yields on Spanish bonds.

In Germany, a report showed that business confidence unexpectedly rose to a nine-month high in April. The Ifo institute’s business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, increased to 109.9 from 109.8 in March. Economists had forecast a drop to 109.5, according to the median of 40 economists.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde is seeking more than $400 billion in new reserves to increase a lending capacity of about $380 billion and this week won promises of support from Japan to Denmark.

FTSE 100 5,772.15 +27.60 +0.48%, CAC 40 3,188.58 +14.56 +0.46%, DAX 6,750.12 +78.90 +1.18%

A gauge of European banks was among the best performers of the 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG, Germany’s largest lenders, gained 2 percent to 34.56 euros, and 2 percent to 1.63 euros, respectively.

BNP Paribas, France’s largest bank, gained 3.7 percent to 29.60 euros after Bank of America Corp. raised the stock to neutral, the equivalent of hold, from underperform. Societe Generale SA, the country’s second-biggest, also added 3.6 percent to 17.33 euros. It was upgraded to buy from neutral.

William Hill increased 4.4 percent to 278.5 pence, its highest price since May 2008. First-quarter net revenue jumped 12 percent from a year earlier, adding it remains “confident” in its expectations for the full year.

Home Retail Group Plc advanced 4.2 percent to 103.8 pence as U.K. retail sales rose more than forecast last month. Marks & Spencer Group Plc (MKS) gained 1.6 percent to 361.3 pence.

Waertsilae Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of ship motors and power plants, rose 3.1 percent to 28.90 euros as its service business reached record sales in the first quarter.

A gauge of technology shares was the worst-performing group in the Stoxx 600. Infineon Technologies AG lost 1 percent to 7.60 euros and Alcatel-Lucent retreated 1.7 percent to 1.42 euros. Logitech International SA, the world’s largest maker of computer mice, dropped 1.8 percent to 7.21 Swiss francs.