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A woman (L), who has recovered from being infected with the coronavirus, receives a bouquet as she leaves a hospital in Bozhou in the Chinese province of Anhui on January 29, 2020.
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European stock indexes hit new records on Wednesday as sentiment was heightened by reports of reduced coronavirus infections in China and optimistic profits from a beer maker and luxury goods group .
the
Stoxx Europe 600 Index
up 0.4% to 430.17, after closing Tuesday up 0.9% to 428.48, which marked a record close. The German DAX 30 index gained nearly 0.7% to 13,715.39, after marking a new high on Tuesday at 13,627.84, up nearly 1%.
the
CAC 40 index
and the
FTSE 100 Index
increased by 0.3% and 0.1% respectively.
US equity futures were pointing to a higher start and potentially new records, in the wake of the closing highs of the
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq composite
Investors were reassured by signs of slowing coronavirus infections on Tuesday. Asian stocks also posted solid gains on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, China reported a second day of new declining cases, although there were 97 additional deaths, bringing the total number of people dead from the disease to 1,113.
“Market sentiment is greatly boosted as most investors and analysts now expect the impact of the deadly flu on economies to be short-lived and contained in [the first quarter]Explains Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades.
He added that traders also praised China’s handling of the crisis financially with injections of liquidity, “and this has helped maintain market confidence.”
Among the actions in motion, the shares of
Heineken
jumped more than 5% after the brewer surpassed past expectations with a 14% increase in profit in 2019 and organic growth in operating profit expected in mid-to-single digits for the year.
Royal Vopak shares rose 4.7% after the tank company announced plans to buy back shares and posted an increase in profits.
Luxury goods manufacturer stock
Kering
rose 2% after the company announced a sharp increase in fourth-quarter revenue, with an 11% increase in sales from its largest label Gucci.
The shares of
Akzo Nobel,
up 3% after the Dutch paint company reported lower net income and lower revenues, but raw material costs would have a slightly favorable impact in the first half of 2020.
On the downside, stocks
ABN AMRO,
which fell 6.5% after the Dutch bank disappointed with stable income and a drop in operating profit for the fourth quarter.
