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* European miners index logs best week since 2016
* Chipmakers rally, boosting tech stocks
* Sodexo jumps on lifting margin forecast
* Credit Suisse down on Q4 net loss forecast
(Updates prices throughout, adds comments throughout)
By Amal S and Shreyashi Sanyal
Jan 8 (Reuters) - European stocks logged their strongest
weekly gains since November on Friday, with Germany's DAX
hitting a record high on the back of better-than-expected
economic data and encouraging earnings updates from chipmakers.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.7% to bring
gains for the first week of 2021 to 3%, largely driven by hopes
that a Democrat sweep of the U.S. Senate would lead to a large
U.S. fiscal stimulus package.
That, along with optimism that the rollout of coronavirus
vaccines will fuel a strong global recovery, boosted U.S. and
Asian markets to all-time highs. Europe's STOXX 600 trades
nearly 5% below its record high hit in February 2020.
Germany's DAX index outperformed, gaining 0.6%,
after data showed both industrial output and exports rose more
than expected in November.
"Germany is the powerhouse in Europe. If you get data out
with value, especially at these uncertain times, that is going
to push prices up and that seems to be what is happening now,"
ETX Capital analyst Michael Baker said.
A European Commission monthly survey showed economic
sentiment in the euro zone ticked up in December, but inflation
held in negative territory, lending weight to expectations of
loose monetary policy in the bloc.
Tech stocks topped sectoral gains as chipmakers
Infineon, AMS and ASM International
rose between 1.6% and 6.9% after global peers Micron Technology
Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd reported
strong earnings.
Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics rose
1.9% after its revenue estimate for the fourth quarter came in
above the previous range.
Travel stocks got a boost after French catering and food
services group Sodexo raised its margin outlook for
the first-half of 2021. Its shares jumped 10.5% to the top of
STOXX 600, while peer Compass gained 4.2%.
Economically-sensitive miners surged 11.5% on the
week, the best performance since April 2016, while oil and gas
stocks were up 9.5% over the same period.
The UK's FTSE 100, heavy on bank and commodity
stocks, added just 0.2% to stand 6% higher on the week.
Retailer Marks & Spencer slipped 2.4% after it
reported another big fall in sales of clothing and homewares in
the three months leading up to Christmas.
"It is very clear the gulf between the food business and the
clothing and home unit is widening," said David Madden, market
analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Swiss bank Credit Suisse fell 3.6% after it
forecast a net loss for its fourth quarter due to higher
provisions for a long-running dispute in the United States.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Amal S in Bengaluru; Editing
by Subhranshu Sahu, Anil D'Silva, Kirsten Donovan)
