European stocks experience best week in a month

European stocks lost momentum on the final day of their best week in a month amid mixed earnings reports.

In a week dominated by earnings reports and the European Central Bank’s policy update following speculation about an extension to quantitative easing, the region’s equities climbed for three straight sessions before stalling. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was unchanged at the close on Friday, taking its five-day advance to 1.3 percent.

Easing investor concern that monetary policies will be tightened too soon, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday it’s unlikely that its bond-buying plan will end abruptly. Still, he left questions unanswered about how the central bank will extend, adjust or wind down the program that’s currently set to expire in March. Officials next meet in December.

Miners led gains in the Stoxx 600, closing at a 14-month high following a rise in the dollar.

The Stoxx 600 has risen 0.4 percent this month, erasing a drop of as much as 2.1 percent. The gauge has risen in five of the past six Octobers. Still, a slump of 5.9 percent this year has dragged its valuation to 14.8 times the estimated earnings of its members, making it about 11 percent cheaper than the S&P 500 Index.

The Asian equity measure has climbed 1.1 percent this week as data indicated Chinese economic growth is stabilizing. As investors brace for higher U.S. borrowing costs before the end of the year and a presidential election next month, companies from Microsoft Corp. to Keppel Corp. in Singapore are updating shareholders on profit performance.

Emerging-market stocks fell, reducing their second weekly gain in October, and currencies declined as investors gauged whether further gains in developing-nation assets are justified as the U.S. moves closer to raising borrowing costs. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 1.6 percent this week.