Europe jumps to 11-month high after Congress certifies Biden's victory

European stocks rose on Thursday, extending the rally for the second straight session and hit an 11-month high, as fears over the US political tensions eased after the US Congress officially declared Joe Biden the winner of the US presidential election.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.3% as of 11:45 GMT, and hit the highest since February 2020 at 408.97 points, after it closed higher by 1.3%.

The pan European index opened higher today for the second straight session, and hit an 11-month high with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing green.

The construction sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, rising more than 1.5%, while the travel and leisure sector fell 1.1%.

The US Senate and House of Representatives in a joint session on Thursday ratified Joe Biden's victory of the US presidential election with 306 electoral votes, and the US Vice President Mike Pence officially announced the decision, saying that freedom always wins.

The session procedures were suspended on Wednesday after storming of Capitol Hill by President Donald Trump supporters, but the joint session was soon continued.

The outgoing President Donald Trump said this month that there would be an orderly transition of power after Congress confirms Biden win.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%, after the index closed higher by 0.6% yesterday at Wall Street, and hit its record high of 3,783.04 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.4%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.5%, and Germany's DAX rose over 0.6%, while the UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.5%.