European stocks hit 1-year high

European stocks rose on Tuesday, extending gains for the fourth straight session and hit a 1-year peak, amid improved investors' sentiment thanks to hopes for a fast global economic recovery.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.1% as of 11:15 GMT, and hit the highest since February 2020 at 420.6 points, after it closed higher by 1.3% yesterday, in the third straight daily gain thanks to positive updates about Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the UK.

The mining sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, rising around nearly 1.5%, as most industrial metals prices rose.

The World Health Organization (WHO) officially agreed to grant emergency use to the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.

The Euro area GDP reading fell 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2020, less than expected of a drop by 0.7%.

S&P 500 futures rose more than 0.2%, and hit a record high after the index closed higher by 0.5% on Friday and hit its record high of 3,937.23.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.1%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.3%, the UK's FTSE 100 added 0.2%, and Germany DAX index rose 0.1%.