Growth hopes pull European shares to four-and-a-half year highs

Markets around the world are continuing to rally thanks in big part to persistent decreases in unemployment claims. "The current rally is due to the cyclical expectations for the U.S. economy as it recovers," said Didier Duret, chief investment officer at ABN Amro in Amsterdam. "The better the U.S. performs, the bigger the hope that we will see some spillover into Europe … We are overweight in equities and we love it," he added.

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