LONDON: European shares rose to their highest close in 14 months on Tuesday, with energy stocks gaining and US home sales data boosting sentiment.
In thin trade ahead of the Christmas holiday season, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose 0.7 percent to 1,034.86 points, its highest close since Oct. 3, 2008.
Energy shares were among the biggest gainers, even as crude prices fell to about $73.40 a barrel, after OPEC oil producers agreed to leave output targets unchanged.
Heavyweights BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total rose between 1.1 and 1.7 percent.
Cairn Energy rose 6.3 percent, building on gains from Monday when it said it had secured a rig to drill offshore Greenland.
The company also undertook a 10-for-1 stock split on Tuesday. The European benchmark has gained more than 24 percent this year and is up more than 60 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, as several major economies have come out of recession.
Volumes were thin at 57.9 percent of the 90-day average.
US economic data helped, as investors chose to focus on stronger-than-expected home sales, rather than weaker-than-expected GDP.
Sales of previously owned homes in the United States surged last month as prices continued to fall and buyers rushed to take advantage of a popular tax credit, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said. The US economy grew at a much slower pace than initially thought in the third quarter. The Commerce Department’s final estimate showed gross domestic product grew at a 2.2 percent annual rate instead of the 2.8 percent pace it reported last month.