European shares extend gains on recovery hopes

(Reuters) – European stocks climbed for a second straight session on Thursday, driven by hopes that a bumper U.S. stimulus package and large-scale coronavirus vaccine rollouts across the continent will spur a strong economic recovery.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.4% to hold near February 2020 highs, while London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.5% and Germany’s DAX index was up 0.2%.

Growth-linked cyclical sectors such as miners, energy and construction & materials continued their rally on the prospects of more U.S. stimulus after Democrats won control of the Senate.

Among individual stocks, Delivery Hero slipped 1.8% after the German food delivery firm said it had raised around 1.2 billion euros ($1.48 billion) by issuing new shares to fund growth.

LafargeHolcim rose 1.4% after the world’s biggest cement maker said it would buy Firestone Building Products from Bridgestone Americas in a deal worth $3.4 billon.

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