* Miners, tech boost STOXX 600
* Benchmark index 7 points short of record highs
* Maersk rebounds after sharp losses on Suez Canal blockage
* ABB gains on $4.3 bln share buyback plan
(Updates to close, adds fresh comments)
By Sruthi Shankar
March 26 (Reuters) - European stocks ended the week close to
all-time highs, with miners prominent as investors shrugged off
worries about a third wave of coronavirus infections and focused
on prospects of a solid global economic recovery.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.8% on
Friday, just enough to register its fourth straight weekly rise
and seven points short of a record high.
Mining and oil & gas stocks gave the biggest
boost to the index, while defensive sectors including healthcare
and utilities were slightly down.
Led by chipmakers, notably ASML and ASM
International, the STOXX 600 tech index rose 2.7%,
posting its biggest weekly gain since early November.
Trading earlier in the week was subdued by worries about new
lockdowns and a slow pace of vaccination in the euro zone, but
optimism about a stimulus-driven recovery in the United States
brightened the outlook for global growth.
"Ultimately – you still have abundant fiscal and monetary
support as the economies open up," said Ankit Gheedia, BNP
Paribas' head of equity and derivative strategy for Europe.
Though the market has been driven mainly by third wave
concerns and slower vaccinations in continental Europe over the
past week, Gheedia sees supply picking up sharply over the next
few weeks.
"It's the best time to be long equities.... with value as a
longer-term trade."
With rising hopes of a strong economic recovery, the world's
largest steelmaker, Arcelormittal, rose 7.4%, while
shares in Rio Tinto, Glencore and BHP Group
were up between 3.7% and 5%.
UK-listed copper miner Kaz Minerals Plc rose 2.8%
after it received a final bid worth 4.02 billion pounds ($5.53
billion) from Chairman-led Nova Resources.
Morgan Stanley said global equities should slow down but
Europe was poised to outperform relative to other markets, as it
expects the region's relative economic momentum to improve over
the next 3-6 months.
Shipping company A.P. Moller Maersk rose 5.5%,
rebounding after recent losses in the wake of a massive traffic
jam caused by a giant container stuck in the Suez Canal, one of
the world's busiest shipping channels.
Spain's Banco Santander added 2.9% after saying it
will offer to buy the 8.3% stake in its Mexican unit it doesn't
already own, strengthening its grip on its Latin American
businesses.
Swiss engineering company ABB gained 1.9% after it
announced plans to buyback shares worth around $4.3 billion.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru and Thyagaraju
Adinarayan in London; Editing by Arun Koyyur and John
Stonestreet)
