Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks advanced for a sixth day as results from Clariant AG and Marks & Spencer Group Plc eased concern about profit growth, while money-market interest rates declined.

Clariant jumped 23 percent and Marks & Spencer rose 7.7 percent after the companies reported earnings that topped analysts' estimates. Societe Generale SA and Allianz SE both rallied more than 11 percent after a leading money-market indicator slid to the lowest level.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 4.5 percent to 233.50. The six-day rally is the longest stretch of gains since August 2007 when the credit crisis got under way.

``We have had some earnings at the top end of expectations which has helped sentiment,'' said Richard Hunter, head of U.K. equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, a unit of Hargreaves Lansdown Plc, which has $21.5 billion in assets under management. ``Government intervention across the world is now starting to help and money-market rates are going in the right direction.''

National benchmark indexes rose in all 18 western European markets except Iceland. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 4.4 percent and France's CAC 40 gained 4.6 percent, while Germany's DAX added 5 percent. In Ukraine, the benchmark PFTS Index surged 14 percent, the biggest move among benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg.

Earnings for the 812 companies in western Europe that reported results since Oct. 7 declined 4.2 percent on average, trailing expectations by 3.1 percent, Bloomberg data show. Companies from Nokia Oyj, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, to BASF SE, the largest chemicals supplier, have reported earnings that missed analyst estimates.

Analysts forecast profit for companies in the Stoxx 600 will decline 6.8 percent in 2008, based on predictions compiled by Bloomberg. That's down from 11 percent growth expected the start of the year.

`Bullish Tone'

Clariant, the world's biggest maker of chemicals used in printing ink, jumped 23 percent to 8.95 francs after reporting a third-quarter profit of 75 million Swiss francs ($64 million) as it closed factories and raised prices to pass on higher raw- material costs. Analysts predicted profit of 13 million francs in a Bloomberg survey.

Marks & Spencer climbed 7.7 percent to 238.5 pence. The U.K.'s largest clothes retailer reported net income of 223.2 million pounds ($350 million), beating the 211 million-pound median estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

``You are seeing a slightly more bullish tone to the market'' after companies beat expectations, said David Buik, a market analyst at BGC Partners in London.

Worst Year

The Stoxx 600 has climbed 19.7 percent since Oct. 27 as central banks from the U.S. to Japan cut borrowing costs to revive economic growth. National benchmark indexes in all markets except Iceland, Switzerland and Luxembourg have rallied at least 20 percent from their lows in October, the common definition of a bull market. All indexes are still down at least 24 percent this year.

Stocks in Europe are headed for their worst year on record, sending the Stoxx 600 down 36 percent so far in 2008, as a jump in U.S. mortgage defaults saddled global banks with $686 billion of losses and caused credit markets to seize.

Societe Generale, France's second-biggest bank, added 11 percent to 47.05 euros. Allianz, Europe's biggest insurer, jumped 14 percent to 68.91 euros. Barclays Plc, the U.K.'s second- largest bank, rose 8.4 percent to 185.9 pence.

Rates

The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks charge each other for three-month loans in dollars dropped to the lowest level in almost five months. The rate declined 15 basis points to 2.71 percent. The Libor-OIS spread, a gauge of cash scarcity among banks, narrowed 13 basis points to 210 basis points today. That still compares with 87 basis points on Sept. 12, the last working day before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed.

Interbank rates have tumbled worldwide as central banks slashed borrowing costs and governments pledged as much as $3 trillion of emergency funds to kickstart lending.

Interest rates on U.S. commercial paper fell to the lowest in four years today, another sign that efforts to unlock credit markets are working.

Australian central bank Governor Glenn Stevens lowered the overnight cash rate target to 5.25 percent from 6 percent in Sydney today, adding to last month's 1 percentage point reduction. Fifteen of 16 economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast a half-point cut and one expected a quarter-point drop.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England are forecast to cut rates when they meet on Nov. 6.

The Stoxx 600 is valued at 9.6 times reported earnings of the companies in the index, below the average over the past four years of 14 times profit. The gauge traded at 7.9 times earnings on Oct. 27, the lowest since at least January 2002.

'Buy Signal'

European stocks are now showing a ``full house buy signal'' because they are already pricing in an ``earnings recession'' after a slump in the past 17 months, according to Morgan Stanley strategists.

Other than low valuations, the buy signals also include ``a capitulation among retail investors, purchasing managers and sell-side analysts,'' a team of strategists led by London-based Teun Draaisma wrote in a note dated Nov. 3.

Suez Environnement SA fell 2.6 percent to 15.53 euros after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended selling shares in the company, citing the economic weakness. Goldman cut its recommendation on shares of Europe's second-biggest water company to ``sell'' from ``neutral.''

``Further signs of economic weakness and the impact this has on waste volumes could undermine Suez Environnement's share price relative to the sector,'' Andrew Mead, a London-based Goldman analyst, wrote in a note to clients.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in London at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2008 12:32 EST