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The
pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.4%, hitting new highs since
February, with tech, travel & leisure and automakers gaining the
most.
Asian and Wall Street peers hit record highs after Biden took
office on Wednesday and signed half a dozen executive orders
that included America's return to the international Paris
Agreement to fight climate change.
"In the past few days, the market has been breathing a sigh of
relief that we had a safe transfer of power from Trump to Biden,"
said Dhaval Joshi, strategist at BCA Research.
Euro zone stocks climbed 0.3% ahead of the ECB meeting where
policymakers are widely expected to keep its easy money policy
unchanged, but hold the door open to further stimulus as the
fast-spreading second wave of COVID-19 dims an already weak
outlook.
The central bank will announce its own policy decisions at 1245
GMT, followed by President Christine Lagarde's news conference
at 1330 GMT.
Tech stocks jumped 1.5%, continuing their rally for a second
straight session, led by software maker Sage Group which jumped
4.7% after posting higher quarterly recurring revenue.
Spanish cellphone mast operator Cellnex rose 4.1% and German
telecoms group Deutsche Telekom gained 0.8% after the two
companies announced to combine their tower business in the
Netherlands.
The pair boosted European telecom sector, which climbed more
than 1%.
Electrolux slipped 0.5% even as the Association of Home
Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) reported appliance shipments
rising by a fifth in the four quarter due to pandemic-driven
"stay at home" demand.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Amal S in Bengaluru; Editing by
Arun Koyyur and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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