European stocks maintain gains with Janet Yellen's testimony in focus

European stocks rose on Tuesday, extending gains for the second straight day, thanks to improved risk appetite ahead of the US Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen's testimony before the US Congress, which is expected to include confirmation on continuing fiscal support for the US economy.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.2% as of 11:38 GMT, after it closed higher by 0.2% yesterday following upbeat Chinese data.

The pan European index opened higher today, extending gains for the second straight session near 11-month high, with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing green.

The health care sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, rising more than 0.9%, followed by the tech sector, which rose 0.8%.

The markets are waiting the testimony of former Federal Reserve's Chief Janet Yellen before the Senate, after she was picked by the US President-elect Joe Biden for the lead of the Treasury Secretary.

NBC News said Yellen will stress before Congress that the country is heading towards a painful recession unless more aid is approved and the Congress will need to act big.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Yellen will confirm a more traditional commitment to market-set currency rates during her testimony today in the US Senate.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.75%, after the index closed lower by 0.7% on Friday at Wall Street, in the second straight daily loss due to profit-taking from its record high of 3,826.69 points.

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