European stocks rose for the third day running on Wednesday, with the latest PMI data and U.K. finance minister Rishi Sunak’s budget speech in focus.
IHS Markit’s final February Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for the euro zone economy rose to 48.8 from January’s 47.8, while the services PMI has been finalized at 45.7, up slightly from January’s 45.4.
Britain’s treasury chief Rishi Sunak said in a tweet he will announce a three-part plan to “protect the jobs and livelihoods of the British people” when he delivers his budget to Parliament later in the day.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.8 percent to 416.33 after closing up 0.2 percent on Tuesday. The German DAX jumped about 1 percent, France’s CAC 40 index gained 0.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 1.2 percent.
Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore rose 1-2 percent on hopes for a quicker economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Oil & gas firm BP Plc advanced 1.7 percent, Total SE rose over 1 percent and Royal Dutch Shell added 1.5 percent as oil prices rose amid signs of progress in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the United States.
Banks also traded broadly higher, with Commerzbank, BNP Paribas, HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered all rising over 2 percent each.
British housebuilder Persimmon surged 3.6 percent despite reporting lower pretax profit and revenue in 2020.
Polymetal gained 2.3 percent after it posted a record high net earnings of $1.1 billion in 2020 on stronger global prices for precious metals.
Daily Mail and General Trust shares added 2.5 percent. The company said that its Consumer Media business, dmg media, has acquired New Scientist, science publishing title, from a consortium of individual investors led by Bernard Gray, for 70 million pounds in cash.
Swiss logistics firm Kuehne + Nagel Group surged 5 percent. After closing the year 2020 with a record operating result, the company said it looks forward to the year 2021 with confidence.
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