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* STOXX 600 eyes best week in 6 months
* Tech stocks surge, tracking Wall St peers
* SocGen swings to profit, stock jumps
(Updates to market close)
By Sruthi Shankar
Nov 5 (Reuters) - European stocks hit a more than two-week
high on Thursday, as strong quarterly earnings, fresh stimulus
for Britain's coronavirus-hit economy and a post-election gains
for Wall Street lifted investor spirits.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index gained 1.1% to
touch its highest level since Oct. 19 and was on track for its
best weekly showing in more than six months.
Technology stocks jumped 2.5% as did their U.S.
peers, but gains were broad-based in Europe with media,
automakers and chemical companies surging over
2%.
While the outcome of the U.S. presidential election is still
unclear, Democratic challenger Joe Biden was edging closer to
victory over Republican President Donald Trump, who has alleged
voting fraud, filed lawsuits and called for at least one state
recount.
Investors were counting on Republicans to maintain control
of the U.S. Senate, which dims prospects for a large new
stimulus package but makes it harder to enact tighter regulation
or raise corporate taxes on American firms.
"From a market perspective, the uncertainty we are seeing
does little to hurt sentiment, with the prospect of a split
Congress limiting the possibility of higher taxes under Biden,"
Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG said in a note.
A handful of upbeat corporate results also lifted European
markets, with Munich-based broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media
jumping 8.9% after it returned to profit in the third
quarter and reinstated its outlook for the full year.
French lender Societe Generale gained 3.7% after a
recovery in its equity trading business helped it swing back to
a quarterly profit.
British insurer RSA soared 45.7% as it said
England's second national lockdown is unlikely to have much
impact on its business.
Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa, which would
benefit from Biden's clean energy push, rose 5.1% after it
confirmed forecasts for a steady rise in margins until 2023.
Its shares, along with those of rival Vestas, took
a hit on Wednesday amid uncertainty over the U.S. election
outcome.
Markets also took heart from new economic stimulus to
cushion the impact of the coronavirus crisis, with the UK's FTSE
up 0.4% after the Bank of England increased its already
huge bond-buying stimulus and Finance Minister Rishi Sunak
extended his costly coronavirus furlough scheme
Banks came under pressure, with Dutch bank ING Groep
NV falling 4.8% after reporting lower-than-expected
pre-tax profit.
Germany's Commerzbank dropped 5.8% after it
reported a quarterly loss.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh.V, Anil D'Silva and Sonya Hepinstall)
