Europe midday: Stocks hold onto gains as ECB vows more help
Stocks across the Continent are holding onto moderate gains heading into the weekend after the head of the European Central Bank said policy-makers in Frankfurt stood ready to ramp up asset purchases further and amid reports that Germany was preparing a large fund to help see firms through the coronavirus crisis.
"In a welcomed change of pace, sentiment has rebounded in Europe today. It would appear all the various measures taken by governments and central banks recently is finally calming the markets down," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
In an op-ed published in multiple European newspapers, ECB chief, Christine Lagarde, wrote: "We are fully prepared to increase the size of our asset-purchase programs and adjust their composition, by as much as necessary and for as long as needed."
And according to Der Spiegel, Germany's ruling coalition was working on the country's own €500bn fund to extend loan guarantees and cash injections to troubled companies.
As of 1430 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 2.69% higher to 295.55, alongside a 4.04% rise to 8,965.02 for the German Dax and a 2.89% advance for Milan's FTSE Mibtel to 15,913.58.
Norwegian Air shares saw early sharp gains after the country's authorities offered the carrier £224m in state aid, with access to the majority of the funds contingent on creditors pitching in and a similar sum available if the company hit certain financial targets.
Spanish fashion retailer Inditex may lay-off 25,000 staff in Spain from mid-April if the country's state of emergency extend past that date, but has offered to make up for any difference between their regular wages and what they receive in government jobless insurance.
In the Netherlands meanwhile, the country's statistics office reported that consumer sentiment was steady in March in comparison to the month before.
To the south, in Belgium on the other hand, the central bank's consumer confidence gauge slipped from a reading of -4 for February to -9 in March.