European shares continue to rise on hopeful economic recovery
European shares rose on Thursday, extending a rally for the fourth straight day, as investors were hopeful of a swifter global economic recovery, with German shares leading the advance among European Union members.
The STOXX 600 index was 0.2% higher, while Frankfurt shares rose 0.4%. Germany’s ruling coalition parties on Wednesday agreed a batch of additional measures to support those hit hard financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. Milan’s FTSE MIB index edged 0.1% lower in early trading, cooling from an over 2% gain in the previous session.
Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi on Wednesday took on the task of forming a new government to end Italy’s political crisis, tackle the coronavirus emergency and overcome deep economic recession.
Global markets remained hopeful after Democrats pushed ahead on Wednesday with a manoeuvre to pass U.S. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package without Republican support.
With the reporting season in full swing, market participants also looked at earnings from European companies. Deutsche Bank AG’s shares rose 1.2% after the German lender swung to a small annual profit in 2020, its first since 2014, on the back of strong gains at its investment banking division.
Securitas AB fell 2.1% after the world’s biggest security services group posted a bigger drop than expected in fourth-quarter profit. Unilever fell 3.4% after the consumer goods giant reported underlying sales growth for the fourth quarter that was in line with estimates. Shell rose 0.7% after the company boosted its dividend again, even as 2020 profit dropped to its lowest in at least two decades.
Gold fell 1% to $1,810 per ounce though oil continued to advance after the OPEC+ alliance of major producers stuck to a reduced output policy and U.S. crude stockpiles fell to their lowest since March last year. U.S. crude rose 0.8% to $56.14 per barrel and Brent gained 0.6% to $58.89. Both stood near their highest levels in about a year.