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* Energy stocks rise as oil price jumps
* Trump says COVID-19 aid talks have restarted
* ProSieben rises after Goldman Sachs upgrade
(Updates to market close)
By Sruthi Shankar
Oct 8 (Reuters) - European stocks hit a near three-week high
on Thursday as investors globally pinned hopes on more U.S.
stimulus even as coronavirus cases surged across the continent.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.8% higher
after making hesitant gains in morning trading.
The German DAX jumped 0.9%, also hitting its
highest since mid-September, while France's CAC 40 rose
0.6% and London's FTSE 100 gained 0.5%.
Helping Europe rally into the close, Wall Street indexes
jumped as U.S. President Donald Trump signalled progress in
negotiations around new fiscal stimulus days after calling off
talks on a more comprehensive deal.
However, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there would be
no additional federal aid for U.S. airlines without a bigger
relief package.
"It's a sentiment driver for the market at the moment," said
Roger Jones, head of equities at London and Capital. "The market
has become very fiscally orientated, yet the numbers provided
can only provide a short-term boost."
Beaten-down sectors such as banks, oil & gas
and travel & leisure were among the top gainers. But
tech and pharma also offered support.
UK oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and BP
gained over 2% with crude prices climbing above $43 a barrel on
signs of supply shortages.
Airline stocks also jumped, with British Airways owner IAG
and Lufthansa up 10.3% and 6.1% respectively.
The gains came even as COVID-19 cases surged across Europe,
with more than 17,540 new daily cases recorded in the United
Kingdom, while hospitals in the Paris region moved into
emergency mode.
An upgrade by Goldman Sachs to "buy" helped German
television network ProSieben jump 3.7%, while French
ad firm Publicis rose 2.0% after analysts said they
expect it to outperform global peers in the third quarter.
3.9
Spain's Telefonica gained nearly 3% after Reuters
reported that it was in the final stages of negotiating a
roughly 5 billion euros ($5.9 billion) deal to build a
fibre-optic network in Germany.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun
Koyyur)
