European stocks climbed

European stocks climbed, following the biggest weekly advance for the region’s equity benchmark in two months, as Chinese economic growth matched forecasts.

The National Bureau of Statistics’ estimate for GDP growth equaled the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey and the government’s target rate for 2013. The economy expanded at a 7.7 percent pace in the first quarter.

The country’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei signaled on July 12 that the world’s second-biggest economy may expand less than the government has targeted this year.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc led a gauge of U.K. lenders higher today after Rightmove predicted that asking prices for British homes will increase 4 percent this year. It had forecast a gain of 2 percent. The property-website operator also reported that asking prices rose to a record in July.

RBS, which is owned by the state, advanced 2.4 percent to 311.7 pence. Lloyds Banking Group Plc, the nation’s biggest mortgage lender, added 1.6 percent to 68.8 pence, while Barclays Plc increased 1.2 percent to 309.7 pence.

Commerzbank climbed 2.5 percent to 6.12 euros. Focus magazine reported that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble talked to UBS Chairman Axel Weber to evaluate the Swiss bank’s interest in buying the state’s shares in the German lender. The magazine did not say how it obtained the information. UBS declined to comment on the report, Focus said.

SEB gained 3.2 percent to 71.65 kronor after Sweden’s fourth-largest bank by market value reported that net income jumped 28 percent to 3.79 billion kronor ($567 million) in the second quarter. That beat the average analyst estimate of 3.21 billion kronor.

Kuehne & Nagel added 3.2 percent to 113.60 francs after the world’s biggest sea-freight forwarder said profit increased 6.3 percent to 153 million Swiss francs ($161 million) in the second quarter. That met the average estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

FTSE 100 6,564.97 +20.03 +0.31%

CAC 40 3,871.5 +16.41 +0.43%

DAX 8,227.63 +14.86 +0.18%