European Stocks Close On High Note On Vaccine Hopes, U.S. Political Developments

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a buoyant note on Tuesday, as investors indulged in some hectic buying almost across the board, reacting to news about U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's transition into office and on continued optimism about coronavirus vaccine.

News about relaxation in quarantine restrictions in the UK, higher crude oil prices, upbeat German GDP data, and a drop in new coronavirus cases in France further boosted sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.91%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 surged up 1.55%, Germany's DAX gained 1.26% and France's CAC 40 ended 1.21% up, while Switzerland's SMI closed with a modest gain of 0.26%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Czech Republic and Greece edged up marginally, while Denmark closed weak.

In the UK market, BP, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Antofagasta, Barclays Group, Whitbread and Lloyds Banking gained 6 to 8.5%.

Royal Dutch Shell, Glencore, BHP Group, Anglo American, Associated British Foods, CRH, Natwest Group, Standard Chartered, BT Group, Pearson and HSBC Holdings gained between 4 and 6%.

Among the losers, Homeserve declined more than 7%, JD Sports and Intertek fell by about 6.5%. Experian, B&M, Fresnillo, Bunzl, Aveva Group, Just Eat Takeaway and Taylor Wimpey were among the other major losers.

In the German market, Lufthansa surged up nearly 7%. Continental, MTU Aero Engines, BASF, Volkswagen, Thyssenkrupp, BMW, Deutsche Bank, Daimler, Munich RE, HeidelbergCement, Deutsche Post and Bayer gained 2 to 6%.

On the other hand, Wirecard tumbled nearly 8%. Vonovia, Deutsche Wohnen and Beiersdorf lost 2 to 2.2%, and RWE declined by about 1.3%.

In France, Technip shares climbed more than 11% following a rating upgrade. ArcelorMittal, Renault, Unibail Rodamco, Total, Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Accor, Societe Generale, Airbus, Michelin, AXA, Publicis Groupe, Sodexo and Valeo gained 3 to 7%.

On the other hand, LOreal, Teleperformance and Dassault Systemes declined sharply.

In economic news, the German economy rebounded at a faster than expected pace in the third quarter, offsetting a large part of the massive contraction in the second quarter, revised data from Destatis revealed on Tuesday.

Gross domestic product grew 8.5% sequentially in the third quarter, reversing the 9.8% decline in the second quarter caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The third quarter GDP rate was revised up from 8.2% estimated on October 30.

On a yearly basis, calendar-adjusted GDP was 4% lower than in the same period last year, but slower than the 11.3% contraction posted in the second quarter.

German business confidence weakened in November, survey results from ifo institute showed. The business climate index fell to 90.7 in November from revised 92.5 in the previous month. The reading was forecast to ease to 90.1 from October's initially estimated value of 92.7.

The current conditions index came in at 90.0 versus 90.4 a month ago. Economists had forecast the score to fall to 87.0. The expectations index declined to 91.5 in November from revised 94.7 in October. This was well below economists' forecast of 93.5.

French manufacturing sentiment deteriorated in November in the context of a second national lockdown, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed. The manufacturing confidence index fell less-than-expected to 92 in November from 94 in October. The expected reading was 91. However, the score was well below its long-term average of 100.

The Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed British retailers expect sales volumes to be broadly flat in the year to December with the nationwide lockdown due to end on December 2.

The news about Trump administration readying to begin the formal transition process has eliminated some of the lingering uncertainty about the outcome of the presidential election, although President Donald Trump has indicated he will continue to challenge the results in court.

According to reports, Biden has picked former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary.