European stocks advanced

European stocks advanced, with the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index rising for a fourth day, after the World Bank raised its global growth forecast. U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, while Asian shares rose.

The Stoxx 600 climbed 0.5 percent to 332.90 at 9:36 a.m. in London, taking its four-day gain to 1.4 percent. The index closed at its highest level since May 2008 yesterday. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.1 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.6 percent.

The World Bank increased its global growth forecasts, predicting the world economy will expand 3.2 percent this year. That compares with a June projection of 3 percent and is up from 2.4 percent in 2013. The Washington-based lender raised the estimate for the richest nations to 2.2 percent from 2 percent. Part of the increase reflects improvement in the 18-country euro area, and the U.S. growing twice as fast as Japan.

Separately, the Fed will release its Beige Book business survey, which contains anecdotal reports on the economy from its 12 districts. The central bank, which next gathers Jan. 28-29, decided last month to begin trimming monthly bond purchases, citing improvement in the labor market.

Burberry jumped 5.1 percent to 1,544 pence. Retail revenue advanced 14 percent to 528 million pounds ($866 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with the 518 million pounds analysts had projected.

Monte dei Paschi added 2 percent to 18.99 euro cents. Viola withdrew his resignation, and the board’s executives reiterated the need to raise capital as soon as possible, Monte dei Paschi said in a statement to the stock exchange in Milan.

Hennes & Mauritz AB climbed 2.2 percent to 290.40 kronor. Europe’s second-biggest clothing retailer posted a 10 percent increase in total sales in December, topping the 9.1 percent gain anticipated in a survey of analysts by SME Direkt.

Chr. Hansen, the world’s biggest maker of dairy enzymes, dropped 3.3 percent to 203.90 kroner. Net income in the first quarter fell to 29.2 million euros, compared with the average analyst estimate for 33.7 million euros.

FTSE 100 6,788.02 +21.16 +0.31%

CAC 40 4,296.59 +22.39 +0.52%

DAX 9,634.38 +93.87 +0.98%