European stocks near 9-month peak on stimulus expectations

European stocks rose on Tuesday, resuming gains after pausing yesterday on correction, to jump once again near a 9-month high, thanks to rising stimulus expectations in the euro area following weak inflation data, and after the successive positive news about Covid-19 vaccines.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.8% as of 11:55 GMT, after it closed lower by 0.75% yesterday, on profit-taking from the highest since late February of 393.87 points.

The pan European index opened higher today, resuming gains after pausing yesterday, rising near a 9-month high, with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing green.

The banking sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, jumping nearly 2.5%, as most of major bank shares rose in Europe.

Inflation in the euro area during November remained in the negative territory for the fourth straight month, which raised market's expectations that the European Central Bank would consider implementing more monetary stimulus in its next meeting scheduled for December.

The American company Moderna announced on Monday that its vaccine was 100% effective at preventing severe COVID-19 in the final analysis of the third and final stage of clinical trials.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.75%, after the index closed lower by 0.8% yesterday at Wall Street on profit-taking.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 1.1%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.2%, Germany's DAX rose over 1%, the UK's FTSE 100 rose 2.1%.