Earnings reports from L'Oreal SA, the world's largest cosmetics maker and German carmaker DaimlerChrysler AG may affect European stock markets next week. Investors will also look at economic-confidence data.

European shares rallied this week as investors were reassured that subprime-mortgage losses won't curb economic growth and hurt corporate earnings.
“We've had a good rebound this week but the skepticism of investors will continue as long as we keep seeing volatility,” said Daniel Knuchel, chief investment officer at ATAG Asset Management in Zurich, which oversees the equivalent of $4.2 billion. “The markets will mainly be interested in consumer confidence data to see the impact of the sub-prime crisis.”
Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index has added 3 percent this week to 370.84 as of 3:15 p.m. in London, heading toward its best weekly performance since June 15.
The Stoxx 50 has climbed 2.1 percent this week, as has the Euro Stoxx 50, a benchmark for the 13 nations sharing the euro.
The VDAX Index, a measure of investors' expectations in price swings in German stocks, has declined 20 percent from Aug. 16, when it reached its highest since June 2006.
DaimlerChrysler, which is scheduled to release second- quarter results on Aug. 29, may say earnings at the Mercedes Car Group, the world's second-largest maker of luxury cars, rose 48 percent, according to the median estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The Stuttgart, Germany-based company may also explain how it plans to use excess cash from the sale of its Chrysler division, Handelsblatt reported on Aug. 21, citing unidentified people at the company.
L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics maker, reports first-half results on Aug. 31. Eva Quiroga, an analyst at UBS AG in London, forecasts earnings before interest and taxes of 1.4 billion euros ($1.9 million). The company reported a net income of 1.09 billion euros a year earlier.
Vivendi SA, Suez SA, Diageo Plc and Carrefour SA are also scheduled to report earnings next week.
European business and consumer confidence probably declined to a six-month low in August on concern that turmoil in financial markets might slow investment and curb economic growth. The report will be published on Aug. 31.
(Source: Bloomberg