European stocks continue to recover from 3-week low

European stocks rose on Thursday, extending gains for the second straight session, within recovery from a 3-week low, after positive political developments in Germany, but today's gains remain limited due to fears over the coronavirus spread in Europe.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.4% as of 11:22 GMT, after closing higher by 0.1% yesterday, after hitting the lowest level since November at 476.59 points.

The public utilities sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, with a rise of more than 1.5%, thanks to the recovery of most of the sector companies.

A new deal to form a new government was announced yesterday between Germany's Social Democrats, the Greens and the Free Democrats. The agreement will end the era of Chancellor Angela Merkel to Olaf Scholz in early December.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% today ahead of Wall Street's opening, after the index closed 0.25% higher yesterday.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.4%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.5%, and Germany's DAX index rose 0.3%, while the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.2%.