European shares rose on Thursday, with one benchmark index rising to a five-year high after the U.S. Federal Reserve surprised the market by delaying plans to scale back its stimulus measures.
Cyclicals and real estate shares led the rally, with global miner Rio Tinto gaining 1.4 percent and Unibail-Rodamco , Europe's biggest property group, surging 3.9 percent.
Gold miners also jumped, tracking a sharp rally in the precious metal as the U.S. dollar fell. Randgold climbed 8.3 percent and Fresnillo added 5.7 percent.
"The Fed's decision not to taper doesn't change the scenario, it just delays everything," said Oliver Pfeil, portfolio manager, global equities, at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, which has about 1 trillion euros ($1.35 trillion) in assets under management.
"The market now realises that it will take much longer to unwind quantitative easing, but at the end, economic growth will pick up, so going into cyclical stocks still makes a lot of sense," he said.
Looking forward, Pfeil sees more upside for European shares than U.S. stocks, expecting a snap-back in stock valuation levels as the euro zone emerges from recession.
Source: Reuters
