European shares finished up 1.5 percent, at their highest in 13 months as gold, oil and other commodities rallied.

Mostly upbeat economic data and a weakening dollar underpinned raw material prices and related shares including BHP and Rio Tinto. Crude rose three percent and gold hit a new record. In addition investors were heartened by retail sales in the US being up 1.4 percent in October which is better than analysts had forecast. Carmakers, including Peugeot Citroen and Renault rose, as European car sales were up 11 percent in October. Daimler benefited from the UAE’s Aabar Investments saying it was considering increasing its stake in the German carmaker. Banks were big gainers including HSBC, Banco Santander, Credit Suisse and UBS.More about: European markets, Markets

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