May 13 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose, paced by financial-services companies, after ING Groep NV and Societe Generale SA posted earnings that beat estimates.
``The market is welcoming this set of results,'' said Olaf Conrad, who helps manage about $16 billion at HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt in Dusseldorf, Germany. ``One has to recognize valuations for bank shares are very reasonable.'' He isn't increasing his bank holdings.
Banks and insurers benefited in the first quarter as stock prices and trading rose from the year before. Concern that higher interest rates will damp consumer borrowing sent the Stoxx 600's banking and insurance groups, which make up about a quarter of the index, lower this year even as the benchmark gained.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index rose 1 percent to 2682.68. The Stoxx 600 added 1 percent, with banks and insurers contributing about a third of the advance. The Euro Stoxx 50, a benchmark for the 12 countries sharing the euro, climbed 1.2 percent.
The indexes pared gains after a U.S. government report showed producer prices rose faster than expected in April. That reinforced concern the Federal Reserve will increase borrowing costs in Europe's largest export market as early as next month. The indexes recovered to close at the highest levels of the day.
The Stoxx 600's bank index is valued at 12.19 times full- year estimated earnings. The benchmark trades at 16 times.
