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* All eyes on G7 meeting on virus impact
* Spanish banks rally on ECJ ruling on mortgage rates
* Qiagen soars to the top of STOXX 600 as Thermo Fisher bid
(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Sruthi Shankar
March 3 (Reuters) - European shares jumped on Tuesday as
investors bet on more moves by major central banks and
governments to counter the economic blow from the coronavirus
outbreak, helping major stock markets recover from a hammering
in the past week.
Following a 5% jump for Wall Street indexes on Monday, the
pan-European STOXX 600 gained 2.4%, with growth-linked
shares including airlines Lufthansa, Air France
and EasyJet among the biggest gainers.
While a source at the Group of Seven said a midday
conference call would not launch any immediate fiscal or
coordinated monetary action to boost growth, a number of
governments and central banks are gearing up to take action.
Australia's central bank was the first to move, cutting
interest rates to a record low on Tuesday, while those in Japan,
Britain, France and the United States have all signalled
willingness to inject more cash into the system.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also set to unveil
an action plan to tackle a spread of the virus and possible
measures to support the health service, businesses and the
economy.
The index is still trading 11% below the February peak,
reflecting the scale of the hit investors expect from a still
expanding epidemic. After a decade of cash injections from
central banks, analysts also question if monetary stimulus will
be enough this time round.
"We're seeing monetary stimulus in a more coordinated
fashion, but the question is really (on) the fiscal side," said
Edward Shing, global head of equity derivatives strategy at BNP
Paribas.
"The problem is even if central banks lower rates or
increases QE, that doesn't get people to go down to the shops."
All of Europe's sub-sectors were up, and those that took a
heavy hit over the past week such as miners, technology
chemical producers and travel & leisure index
rebounding the most.
Spanish banks shone after the European Court of Justice
ruled that it will be up to local judges to decide on a case by
case basis if IRPH mortgage clauses were abusive.
Caixabank SA, Bankia, BBVA all
rose between 3% and 6% over relief that the court did not decide
a blanket rejection of the clause.
Among individual movers, German meal-kit delivery firm
HelloFresh jumped 7% after forecasting growth in 2020
revenue and core profit.
Qiagen NV soared 19% to the top of STOXX 600 after
U.S. firm Thermo Fisher Scientific launched a 10.4
billion euro ($11.6 billion) bid for the German genetic testing
company.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila and Patrick Graham)
easyJet (EZJ)