European stocks continue to rebound on strong manufacturing data

European stocks soared on Wednesday, to extend gains for the second day and rebound from a 3-month low, after the release of strong data on the manufacturing sector in Germany and Europe, which offset the lingering fears about the coronavirus.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1.6% as of 11:25 GMT, after closing higher by 0.1% yesterday, within recovery attempts from a 3-month low of 355.87 points.

The pan European index opened higher today, to extend gains for the second day and rebound from a 3-month low, with most European markets and sectors seeing green today.

The travel and leisure sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, rising more than 2.5%, after 3 days of losses.

Data showed today the German manufacturing PMI grew to 56.6 points in September, its best reading in 2 years, beating forecasts of 52.0 points, vs. 52.1 points in August.

Europe's manufacturing PMI grew to 53.7 points in September, its best pace since 2018, beating forecasts of 51.5 points, vs. 51.7 points in August.

The data raised hopes about a rapid recovery for the European economy from the coronavirus fallout, which is the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.

However, as new coronavirus cases continued to rise, many European governments decided to re-impose partial lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of the disease.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.4%, after the index closed higher by 1.05% yesterday at Wall Street, taking a breather after the sell-off halted.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 1.6%, France's CAC 40 climbed 1.8%, Germany's DAX jumped 1.7%, and the UK's FTSE 100 rose 2.4%.