(Reuters) – European shares went to a one-year high on Monday and mining stocks found a jump in copper prices as a bet of further U.S. stimulus sparked optimism around a global economic recovery earlier this year.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.7%, with Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Anglo American strengthening the index as copper prices jumped to their highest level in more than eight years.
Banks and energy stocks also focused on what was said to be “recovery trading” as demand for regions that had been on the broader index followed the coronavirus-led disaster in early 2020.
Energy stocks were also driven by a jump in oil prices to 13-month highs. [O/R]
Most European stocks were higher by 0846 GMT, while Asian shares hit the highest levels in the day. [MKTS/GLOB]
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday turned to a bipartisan group of local officials to help with his $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan.
“Markets remain target-based on Biden stimulation and vaccine distribution as the magic panacea for the global pandemic,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Historical fiscal and fiscal stimulus has helped the STOXX 600 benchmark reversal by around 55% from declining to less than seven years in March 2020, although it has weakened the US S&P 500 due to lock-ins. long caused by coronavirus in Europe.
A recent Reuters poll found that the euro zone economy was in a double-dip recession and that economists now expect GDP to contract 0.8% in the first quarter, reversing an earlier forecast for a growth of 0.6%.
All will now look at euro zone business output data in December at 1000 GMT, and consumer confidence and business activity readings later in the week.
Thin trade volumes are expected to remain Monday with markets in China, Hong Kong and the United States closed for local holidays.
In company news, Vivendi rose 17.2% to the top of the STOXX 600 as it stated that it intended to distribute 60% of Universal Music’s capital to investors and was targeting their most valuable assets listed before the end of the year.
Shares of Groupe Bollore, which has a 27% stake in Vivendi’s share capital, jumped 12.7%.
British pubs group Mitchells & Butlers rose 3.8% after saying it planned to raise 350 million pounds ($ 486 million) in equity and reached an agreement with its banks for a new credit facility. .
Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila