European Stocks Close On Strong Note On Vaccine News, U.S. Stimulus

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a strong note on Monday and some of the key indices in the region hit multi-month closing highs, buoyed by U.S. stimulus news and announcement of a post-Brexit trade deal by the European Union and Britain.

Positive news on the vaccine front also aided sentiment. The European Union has launched a massive coronavirus vaccine drive. France kickstarted virus vaccination programme on Sunday after the French High Authority for Health or HAS authorized the use of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, according to reports, the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca is likely to get approval from UK authorities by Tuesday.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.66%. Germany's DAX spurted 1.49% and France's CAC 40 gained 1.2%, while Switzerland's SMI ended stronger by 1.84%. The U.K. market was closed for a holiday.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Netherlands and Russia ended modestly higher.

In the German market, Lufthansa gained about 6%. RWE, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Bank, Beiersdorf, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Allianz, Deutsche Wohnen, Adidas, Henkel, Infineon Technologies, SAP, Vonovia and Continental gained 1 to 3.2%.

BMW found modest support after the company announced plans to increase its electric vehicle productions.

Wirecard plunged more than 10%. Thyssenkrupp and MTU Aero Engines also ended notably lower.

In France, Carrefour, Kering, Schneider Electric, Capgemini, Air France-KLM, Dassault Systemes, Saint Gobain, LOreal, Hermes International, Danone and Veolia gained 2 to 4%.

Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Technip, Renault and Credit Agricole ended weak.

In economic releases, Spain retail sales declined at a faster pace in November, by 4.3% on a yearly basis that was bigger than the 3% decline logged in October, according to the data released by the statistical office INE.

Further, Dutch producer confidence improved in December to its highest level since March, data from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed.

In Finland, December manufacturing confidence was -5, compared to -13 in November.

Norway's retail sales rose 2.9% month-on-month in November, following a 1.2% increase in October, as per the figures from Statistics Norway.

In Brexit news, the EU and UK announced a Brexit trade deal. The 27 ambassadors from EU member nations on Monday formally approved the deal. However, the agreement still needs to be approved by U.K. lawmakers before the Dec. 31 deadline.

On the stimulus front, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and government spending package on Sunday, averting a partial federal government shutdown. The package will also restore unemployment benefits to millions of Americans.

Trump's signing of the bill that contains $900 billion in pandemic relief comes just days after he threatened not to sign the package and called it a "disgrace."