Courtesy of John Nyaradi.
European stocks advanced on Thursday as investors gave thanks to the Italian Senate for giving Silvio Berlusconi the boot.
European stocks advanced on Thursday as investors expressed relief that the Senate of the boot-shaped nation gave the boot to Silvio 
Berlusconi. Expulsion of Berlusconi from the Italian Senate significantly reduced the chaos factor in a nation which has been struggling to escape from a recession which began in the second half of 2011. Italy’s third quarter GDP improved to only negative 0.1 percent from -0.3 percent in the second quarter and -0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2013.
The European Commission reported on Thursday that its Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) increased by 0.8 points in the Eurozone during the month of November to reach 98.5. In the greater, 28-nation European Union the ESI climbed 0.4 points to 102.1.
Thomas Cook Travel led the European stock market advance as its share price skyrocketed 14.75 percent after the company released a better-than-expected earnings report.
The Euro STOXX 50 Index finished Thursday’s session with a 0.32 percent advance to 3,092 – climbing further above its 50-day moving average of 3,005. Its Relative Strength Index is 62.60 (NYSEARCA:FEZ). The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.08 percent to 6,654 (NYSEARCA:EWU).
The German DAX Index climbed 0.39 percent to 9,387 (NYSEARCA:EWG). France’s CAC 40 Index rose 0.22 percent to 4,302 (NYSEARCA:EWQ). Spain’s IBEX 35 Index surged 0.52 percent to 9,859 (NYSEARCA:EWP). Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.92 percent to 19,099 (NYSEARCA:EWI).
As of 4:35 EDT, the euro advanced 0.19 percent against the dollar, trading at $1.3604 (NYSEARCA:FXE).
Spain’s ten-year bond yield rose to 4.15 percent on Thursday from Wednesday‘s closing level of 4.14 percent (NYSEARCA:EWP). Spain’s two-year bond yield rose to 1.035 percent on Thursday from Wednesday‘s closing level of 1.012 percent (NYSEARCA:EWP).
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