European stocks hit fresh record high
European stocks extended a record-setting rally on Monday as optimism about the reopening of economies and easy monetary policy lifted cyclical sectors, including mining and financials.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.1% to hit a fresh all-time high in early trading, with miners rallying 2.2% on the back of strong metal prices.
UK’s commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose 0.2% despite a surge in the pound, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set to announce the next phase of reopening from the COVID-19 lockdown.
British Airways-owner IAG, easyJet and Wizz Air, however, fell between 1.5% and 3.4% after UK allowed international travel to resume from May 17, but just 12 countries made the so-called “green list”.
German biotech company BioNTech surged 10.8% after revealing plans to build a new manufacturing site for its vaccines based on messenger RNA technology (mRNA) in Singapore.
Source: Reuters
