European stocks rise near 11-month high amid focus on Georgia's runoffs

European stocks rose on Wednesday, resuming gains after pausing yesterday, rise near an 11-month high once again, thanks to strong sentiment following the positive political developments in the US.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.8% as of 11:25 GMT, after it closed lower by 0.2% on profit-taking from the highest since February 405.74 points.

The pan European index opened higher today, near an 11-month high with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing green.

The banking sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, rising more than 4.5%, as most major European banks' shares rose.

As for the US, the Democratic Party is now close to controlling the Senate, after Raphael Warnock won one of the two seats that take place on Georgia's re-election, and the other democratic candidate Jon Ossoff is close to win the second seat.

The Democratic Party now secures 49 members in the Senate, while the Republican Party has 50 seats, and with Jon Ossoff's near victory in the run-offs, the Senate will be divided equally between the two parties.

This would give elected-Vice President Kamala Harris the right to vote decisively in the Senate, and would also give Democrats control of the Senate, alongside the House of Representatives.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, after the index closed higher by 0.7% yesterday at Wall Street, near its record highs.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.9%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.8%, Germany's DAX rose over 0.9%, and the UK's FTSE 100 rose 2.5%.