European stocks close

European stocks climbed after posting their biggest weekly gain this year, as telecommunications and mining companies advanced.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.4 percent to 334.50 at 4:33 p.m. in London. The gauge advanced 2.5 percent last week after the Federal Reserve said its stimulus policy will remain responsive to economic data and as companies from Renault SA to ThyssenKrupp AG reported profit that beat analysts’ projections.

National benchmark indexes advanced in 12 of the 18 western-European markets today. France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.2 percent and Germany’s DAX was little changed, falling less than 0.1 percent. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rallied 1 percent.

SGL Carbon jumped 13 percent to 30.66 euros. German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that SGL Carbon and BMW, which owns a 15.7 percent stake in the company, are investing more than 100 million euros ($137 million) to double carbon-fiber production to 6,000 tons a year.

BMW slipped 1.3 percent to 84.85 euros.

MorphoSys added 1.5 percent to 64.43 euros. The German biotechnology company said it received a milestone payment from Novartis for its application to start the first phase of human testing for an anti-inflammatory treatment.

Luxottica Group SpA climbed 1.6 percent to 39.48 euros. Chief Executive Officer Andrea Guerra said he won’t join the new Italian government and will remain at his job at the world’s largest maker of eyeglasses.