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* Euro zone blue-chips hit highest since March 5
* Italy's Atlantia soars as end of concession dispute nears
* Sweden's SEB slips as loan loss provision surges
* All eyes on ECB meeting, EU summit later this week
(Updates to market close)
By Sruthi Shankar
July 15 (Reuters) - European stocks closed at over a
five-week high on Wednesday, with travel stocks surfing a wave
of optimism following reports of progress in developing a
COVID-19 vaccine.
Hard-hit airline stocks like British Airways-owner IAG
, Ryanair and Lufthansa rose between
9.7% and 10.7%, while cruise operator Carnival Plc
jumped 11.4%.
The travel & leisure index surged 6.1% to lead
sectoral gains, but still remains the worst performer in Europe
this year with a 33% plunge as the coronavirus pandemic brought
global travel to a halt.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 1.8%, closing just
short of levels last seen in early March, while euro zone
blue-chips jumped 1.7% to hit their highest level
since March 5.
Investors were encouraged by an early-stage study on U.S.
biotech firm Moderna Inc's experimental vaccine for
COVID-19 that provoked immune responses.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca jumped 5.2% after a report
said positive news on the University of Oxford's potential
COVID-19 vaccine that has been licensed to the drugmaker could
be announced as soon as Thursday.
"Our central scenario is that a vaccine would be broadly
available from the second quarter of next year, or the fourth
quarter of this year in our upside scenario," Mark Haefele,
chief investment officer of UBS Global Wealth Management, told
clients.
"Various potential treatment options are also in the
pipeline, raising hopes that societies can cope with the
pandemic without full shutdowns."
Expectations were also high among investors heading into an
EU summit later this week that leaders will agree on a recovery
fund of 750 billion euros for pandemic-hammered economies.
The European Central Bank concludes its policy meeting on
Thursday although no major announcements are expected.
Among individual movers, Swedish telecom operator Tele2 AB
gained 2.9% as it reaffirmed its 2020 earnings
outlook and plans for an extra shareholder payout.
The world's largest fish farmer Mowi ASA jumped
6.8% as harvest volumes beat its own forecast. Shares in peer
Salmar rose 2.2%.
The top gainer on the STOXX 600 was Atlantia SpA,
which shot up 26.7% after the Italian infrastructure group and
its unit Autostrade made the government new offers to settle
their long-running dispute.
Semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding NV
declined 3.7% as it reported quarterly profit below estimates,
but forecast overall growth for 2020.
Swedish bank SEB AB fell 1.6% after reporting a
smaller-than-expected fall in net quarterly profit, but credit
loss provisions surged. Handelsbanken AB also dropped
2.6%.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta and Catherine Evans)
