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European stocks rose to the highest level in more than five years as the Federal Reserve unexpectedly decided against slowing the pace of its monthly bond purchases.

The Fed yesterday refrained from reducing its $85 billion of monthly bond purchases, saying it needs to see more indications that the U.S. economy is improving sustainably. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg before the decision had predicted that the central bank would start tapering stimulus measures this month.

“Conditions in the job market today are still far from what all of us would like to see,” Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said at a press conference in Washington after European markets closed. “The committee has concern that rapid tightening of financial conditions in recent months would have the effect of slowing growth.”

Bernanke reiterated that a decision on slowing the pace of asset purchases would depend on economic data, and that the Fed has no set timetable. The central bank repeated its guidance that its target interest rate will remain low for at least as long as unemployment exceeds 6.5 percent, and the outlook for inflation is no higher than 2.5 percent.

National benchmark indexes gained in all 18 western European markets today, except Iceland. Germany’s DAX rose 0.7 percent, extending a record. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 1 percent and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.9 percent.

UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, climbed 2.7 percent to 4.94 euros. Standard Chartered added 3.3 percent to 1,564 pence. A gauge of European lenders increased 0.8 percent, extending its rally since a June 24 low to 20 percent.

Randgold jumped 8.1 percent to 4,841 pence as gold extended yesterday’s biggest gain in more than 15 months. Polymetal surged 7.9 percent to 705.5 pence, the largest advance since Aug. 16. Fresnillo Plc, which produces gold and silver in Mexico, rallied 6.1 percent to 1,069 pence.

A gauge of commodity producers posted the third-best performance of the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx 600.

Richemont, owner of the Cartier brand, climbed 2.1 percent to 94.60 Swiss francs as a report showed watch exports rose 0.5 percent in August from a year earlier. Swatch, the biggest maker of Swiss watches, gained 1.7 percent to 596.50 francs.

U.S. stock-index futures rose after the Federal Reserve unexpectedly refrained from cutting monetary stimulus and investors awaited data on home sales and leading indicators.

Global Stocks:

Nikkei  14,766.18 +260.82 +1.80%

Hang Seng 23,502.51 +385.06 +1.67%

FTSE 6,651.51 +92.69 +1.41%

CAC 4,208.43 +38.03 +0.91%

DAX 8,720.5 +84.44 +0.98%

Crude oil $108.61 +0.50%

Gold $1366.60 +4.51%

Upgrades:

Downgrades:

FedEx (FDX) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman

Walt Disney (DIS) downgraded from Overweight to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley

Other:

Cisco Systems (CSCO) initiated with an Underperform at Credit Suisse

CRT Capital initiates Google (GOOG) with a Buy and price target of $1090

CRT Capital initiates Facebook (FB) with a Buy and price target $52

European stocks rose to the highest level in more than five years as the Federal Reserve unexpectedly decided against slowing the pace of its monthly bond purchases. U.S. index futures and Asian shares advanced.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rallied 1 percent to 316.26, the highest level since June 2008, at 10:18 a.m. in London. The equity benchmark has gained 6.4 percent so far this month, extending its advance this year to 13 percent, as central banks pledged to maintain stimulus measures to support the global economy.

The Fed yesterday refrained from reducing its $85 billion of monthly bond purchases, saying it needs to see more indications that the U.S. economy is improving sustainably. Economists surveyed before the decision had predicted that the central bank would start tapering stimulus measures this month.

“Conditions in the job market today are still far from what all of us would like to see,” Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said at a press conference in Washington after European markets closed. “The committee has concern that rapid tightening of financial conditions in recent months would have the effect of slowing growth.”

Bernanke reiterated that a decision on slowing the pace of asset purchases would depend on economic data, and that the Fed has no set timetable. The central bank repeated its guidance that its target interest rate will remain low for at least as long as unemployment exceeds 6.5 percent, and the outlook for inflation is no higher than 2.5 percent.

UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, climbed 3 percent to 4.95 euros. Standard Chartered added 3.6 percent to 1,568.5 pence. A gauge of European lenders increased 1.2 percent, extending its rally since a June 24 low to 21 percent.

Randgold jumped 7.7 percent to 4,822 pence as gold extended yesterday’s biggest gain in more than 15 months. Polymetal surged 11 percent to 724 pence, the largest advance since July 11. Fresnillo Plc, which produces gold and silver in Mexico, rallied 4.4 percent to 1,052 pence.

Richemont, owner of the Cartier brand, climbed 2.4 percent to 94.90 Swiss francs as a report showed watch exports rose 0.5 percent in August from a year earlier. Swatch, the biggest maker of Swiss watches, gained 2.2 percent to 599.50 francs.

FTSE 100 6,656.03 +97.21 +1.48%

CAC 40 4,218.57 +48.17 +1.16%

DAX 8,737.36 +101.30 +1.17%

Asian stocks rose, with the benchmark regional index on course for its biggest gain in a year, after the Federal Reserve unexpectedly refrained from cutting U.S. economic stimulus.

Nikkei 225 14,766.18 +260.82 +1.80 %

Hang Seng 23,530.46 +413.01 +1.79 %

S&P/ASX 200 5,295.55 +57.41 +1.10 %

Shanghai Composite 2,191.85 +6.29 +0.29 %

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 2.3 percent to 141.99 as of 2:33 p.m. in Hong Kong, poised for the highest close since May 22.

Markets in mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and Sri Lanka are closed for holidays.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, rose 1.7 percent to A$36.69

Rio Tinto Group, the second-biggest, advanced 3.1 percent to A$63.63.

Nikkei 225 14,505.36 193,69 1,35%

Hang Seng 23,117.45 -63,07 -0,27%

S & P / ASX 200 5,238.14 -13.10 -0.25%

Shanghai Composite 2,191.85 6,29 0,29%

FTSE 100 6,558.82 -11.35 -0.17%

CAC 40 4,170.4 +24.89 +0.60%

DAX 8,636.06 +39.11 +0.45%

DJIA 15,676.90 147.21 0.95%

S&P 500 1,725.03 20.27 1.19%

NASDAQ 3,783.64 37.94 1.01%