European stocks close

European stocks rose for a seventh day, their longest winning streak this year, as China’s economic growth accelerated for the first time in three quarters.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.8 percent to 318.47, extending its highest level since June 2008. The gauge rallied 2.2 percent this week as U.S. lawmakers agreed to extend the government’s borrowing authority until early 2014 and end a partial government shutdown.

In China, gross domestic product increased 7.8 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That matched the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey. The world’s second-biggest economy posted GDP growth of 7.7 percent and 7.5 percent in the first two quarters, slipping from a 7.9 percent expansion in the final three months of 2012.

National benchmark indexes advanced in all of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rallied 0.7 percent, while France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.1 percent. Germany’s DAX added 0.6 percent.

Schindler advanced 4.3 percent to 127.30 Swiss francs, its biggest gain since November 2011. The elevator maker said it will buy back 4.1 million shares and 4.1 million participation certificates at 129 francs and 129.80 francs each, respectively. The repurchase price for equity marked a 5.7 percent premium to yesterday’s closing price.

Cap Gemini gained 5.5 percent to 48.06 euros after saying it plans to buy back convertible bonds due Jan. 1, 2014, through reverse bookbuilding. France’s biggest computer-services company also opened a separate bond issue to raise 350 million euros ($479 million) and pay for the buyback. Cap Gemini had said in July it will allocate 400 million euros to offset the potential share dilution created by the 2014 bonds.

Ziggo NV rose 2 percent to 31 euros after reiterating its full-year forecast for so-called organic-sales growth of about 1 percent. The Dutch cable-television provider, which this week rejected an offer from Liberty Global Plc, reported third-quarter revenue of 391 million euros, compared with analysts’ estimate of 393 million euros.