PARIS: Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 index posted its biggest weekly gain since March on Friday, supported by interest rate-sensitive real estate stocks as signs of an end to monetary policy tightening by major central banks boosted sentiment The pan-European index inched 0.2% higher, also lifted by upbeat earnings, signs of slowing inflation and falling euro area sovereign bond yields on increased bets of rate cuts in 2024. The index added 3.4% over the week.

Decisions by the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and others to leave policy unchanged have underpinned investor hopes that interest rates have peaked.

“There’s a cautious optimism that it’s the end of rate hikes, but that narrative is premature because we need to see how the data is coming up,” said Giles Coghlan, chief market analyst at GCFX Ltd.

It all depends on the inflation trajectory, Coghlan added.

ECB board member Isabel Schnabel noted the central bank is on track to push inflation back down to 2% by 2025 but the “last mile” of disinflation may be the toughest, so the bank cannot yet close the door on further rate hikes.

Real estate stocks saw their biggest weekly gain since at least 2008, adding 12.2%, as a rally in government bonds brings down yields in Europe and around the world.

Automobile stocks rose 1.7% for a 6.2% weekly gain.

BMW advanced 2.0% on higher margins in its automotive segment in the third quarter, and Volvo Cars jumped 3.7% after its October sales update.

Nexi rose 6.1% on a report saying US private equity firm Silverlake is considering buying the Italian digital payment firm.

Andritz gained 6.2% after JPMorgan upgraded the Austrian industrial equipment maker to “overweight” from “neutral”, citing a strong backlog that gives visibility on next year.

Kering rose 2.9% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the French luxury group to “buy” from “hold”, saying its top brand Gucci was “significantly underappreciated” in the brokerage’s view.