European stocks extend gains to 4-year peak, led by Banks rally

The major European stocks indices rose on Wednesday, to extend gains for the fourth straight session, and hit a 4-year high hit, amid positive market sentiment as hopes after the recent positive developments in the US-China trade file, in addition to a surge in the banking sector after Societe Generale reported robust earnings.

Stoxx Europe 600 rose by 0.3% (he highest level since July 2015) as of 11:25 GMT, as it closed higher by 0.2% yesterday, in its the third straight daily gain.

The index opened today's session higher, to extend its gains for the fourth straight day, and hit a 4-year high, with most of the major European exchanges and sectors rising.

The banking and financial sector saw the largest gains in Europe, with a rise by 0.9%, buoyed by Societe Generale's robust earnings report.

The French bank announced a net income of about €854 million, slightly lower than estimates, and announced that it had set aside about 75% of the liquidity to cash dividends for this year.

The strong market sentiment continued to dominate most of the global financial arena, especially after recent positive developments on the trade talks between the US and China, as the two countries are very close to signing the first phase trade deal, which will likely be in the middle of this month.

S&P 500 futures fell by 0.1%, after the index closed lower by 0.1% at Wall Street yesterday, its first daily loss in 3 days on profit-taking from its all-time high of 3,085.20 points it hit in the previous session.

Back to the European stock markets, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose by 0.3%, the German DAX rose by 0.1%, with France's CAC 40 rising by 0.3%, while in London, the FTSE 100 took the opposite direction and fell by 0.3%