LONDON – European stocks rose on Thursday, following overnight gains in the Asia-Pacific markets following a rise in U.S. stock futures.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 gained 0.5% in early business, with core resources adding 1.2% to lead gains as all sectors and major countries entered positive territory.
The momentum of European stocks comes after an optimistic session similar to the Asia-Pacific overnight, driven by US trade; Asian stocks rose mainly on Thursday after the S&P 500 rose to a record high on Wednesday.
Futures U.S. stock markets also rose in premarket trading, suggesting that Wall Street could expand gains that have driven the S&P 500 to record levels this week.
Investors appeared reassured during Wednesday’s session by the final minutes of the Fed meeting, which showed that officials expect to keep the same pace of asset buying for some time as the central bank works to give support for stable prices and maximum occupancy.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden spoke Wednesday from Washington about his administration’s $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan that includes a 28% hike in the corporate tax rate and noted that he is willing to negotiate the proposed tax increase.
Announcements from the UK and European drug regulators on Wednesday about the Covra vaccine from AstraZeneca / Oxford University will boost European markets.
The two regulators said that while a link between the vaccine and very rare blood clotting disorders was possible, the benefits of receiving the vaccine still outweigh its risks. The UK said it would give a different Covid vaccine to those under 30 in Britain as a precaution.
UBS is holding its annual general meeting on Thursday, while on the data front, Germany’s industrial orders are due to expire by February.
There were few significant stock price movements at first, with Johnson Matthey’s 4.4% rise to the top of the Stoxx 600 after the British chemical company released a promising outlook for 2021.
At the bottom of the European blue chip index, the British insurer Direct Line Group fell 4.6%.
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