(For a live Reuters blog on the US, UK and EU stock markets, click LIVE / or type LIVE / in a news window)
(Reuters) – European stocks climbed for a second straight session on Thursday, driven by hopes that a bumper US stimulus package and large-scale coronavirus vaccine deployments across the continent will spur a strong economic recovery.
Pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.4% to stay near February 2020 highs, while London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.5% and Germany’s DAX index rose 0.2%.
Cyclical growth-related sectors such as miners, energy, and construction and materials continued to rally on the prospects of a bigger US stimulus after Democrats took control of the Senate.
Among individual stocks, Delivery Hero slipped 1.8% after the German food delivery company said it raised around 1.2 billion euros ($ 1.48 billion) by issuing new shares for finance growth.
LafargeHolcim rose 1.4% after the world’s largest cement maker announced it would buy Firestone Building Products from Bridgestone Americas in a deal worth $ 3.4 billion. (Reporting by Amal S in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
