European stocks jump to 4-week high, banking shares lead rally

European stocks rose on Monday, hitting a 4-week high, to resume their rally after pausing on Friday on profit-taking.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1.4% as of 11:22 GMT, and hit the highest level since last June 10 at 370.28 points, after closing lower by 0.8% on Friday, posting the first daily loss in five, on profit-taking.

The Stoxx Europe index gained 2.2% during the past week, its second weekly gain in 3 weeks, on hopes of the European economy's quick recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

The pan European index opened higher today, hitting a 4-week high, with most European markets and sectors seeing green today.

The banking sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, with a rise by 4%, followed by the automotive sector rise by 2.5%, after a broad rally in the Chinese market.

Otherwise, the European Commission announced on Friday the conditional approval for the Gilead's Covid-19 treatment, as the first drug in the EU to treat the coronavirus.

S&P 500 futures rose 2%, and hit a 1-month high, ahead of Wall Street's opening, after the closure of US markets on Friday in observance of the Independence Day holiday.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 1.7%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.5%, Germany's DAX jumped 1.6%, and the UK's FTSE 100 added 1.75%.