Europe close: Stocks gain on hopes for Brexit talks, US stimulus
European shares for the most part finished near their session highs on Wednesday after what appeared to be positive reports on the prospects for a Brexit deal and optimism around the chances of an agreement on Capitol Hill for further fiscal stimulus.
"Stock markets are in positive territory as we approach the end of the trading session as optimism in relation to UK-EU trade talks, vaccines, US stimulus talks and politics are all assisting the bullish mood," said David Madden at CMC Markets UK.
Earlier, the BBC's Nicholas Watt tweeted that there was a feeling among British lawmakers that a Brexit deal might be close.
For his part, Madden cited remarks from Irish PM, Micheál Martin, who reportedly said he has greater hope for a UK-EU trade deal this week.
Against that backdrop, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index edged up 0.25% to 392.84, alongside a 1.06% advance to 13,362.87 for the German Dax although France's Cac-40 was up by only 0.04% at 5,530.31.
Euro/dollar meanwhile was ahead by 0.12% at 1.2158, while the pound climbed 0.83% to 1.3434 against the US dollar.
Nevertheless, ongoing concerns around the second wave of Covid-19 dragged on investor sentiment throughout most of the session.
Despite trumpeting the world’s first coronavirus vaccinations last week, the UK government was forced to face reality after a new variant of the infection was identified in London, and was thought to have contributed to increased infection rates, forcing the capital into the highest tier of restrictions.
In Italy, media reported the government could put the country under partial lockdown from Christmas eve to at least January 2, while in France Covid-19 hospitalisations rose for the third day, just as the country planned to relax its lockdown.
In equity news, JD Sports Fashion led the gainers, up almost 3% after the company said it was buying US-based Shoe Palace for $325m along with an equity share in the enlarged group for the company’s founders.
Computer games maker CD Projekt regained some of the ground that they lost on Monday after it apologised for glitches in its long-awaited Cyberpunk 2077, which stars Keanu Reeves, on last generation consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One.
CD Projekt Red says it "should have paid more attention to making it play better" on those consoles and offered refunds to people who want to return the game.
Rolls-Royce shares fell after a downgrade to 'sell' at Panmure Gordon.