European equities advanced strongly over the week, showing resilience in the face of turmoil on the Chinese stock market.

This week’s Shanghai shakeout prompted an initial, knee-jerk sell-off on the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index on Wednesday. But the index recovered to end Wednesday’s session just 0.1 per cent lower. By the end of trade Friday, the European benchmark stood at 1,625.91, a 6½-year high, and up 1.8 per cent over the week.