(RTTNews) - European stocks rose sharply on Monday as hopes for a coronavirus treatment as well as signs of a thaw in U.S.-China tensions offset fears about a resurgence in virus cases across the continent.
Investor sentiment was boosted after U.S. regulators authorized the use of blood plasma from recovered patients as a treatment option for Covid-19.
The U.S. FDA's emergency authorization came on the eve of the Republican National Convention, where Donald Trump will be nominated to lead his party for four more years.
Meanwhile, a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter said that Trump's team is privately seeking to reassure U.S. companies that they can still do business with the WeChat messaging app in China.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 rallied 1.7 percent to 371.17 after declining 0.2 percent on Friday. The German DAX rose 2.3 percent, France's CAC 40 index jumped 2.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 1.7 percent.
AstraZeneca shares jumped 3.3 percent. The Financial Times said the Trump administration is considering fast-tracking an experimental Covid-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University to return the economy closer to normalcy.
Spanish multinational pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer Grifols added 3.3 percent.
Shares of BT Group soared 5.6 percent. Sky News reported the telecoms giant has asked Goldman Sachs to update its defense strategy from possible suitors.
Bunzl rose nearly 3 percent after the distribution and outsourcing firm resumed dividends and reported a 16.6 percent rise in first-half profit.
BP Plc climbed 2.8 percent and Royal Dutch Shell added 3.3 percent as oil prices rose amid storms in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
Insurance firm Axa SA advanced 2 percent. The company has announced an agreement with India's Bharti Enterprises to combine their non-life insurance operations in India, Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited or Bharti AXA GI, into ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd.
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