PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks finished higher on Wednesday as hopes for a China-U.S. trade deal continued to build.
Investors also looked optimistically to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting minutes due later today for clues on policymakers' thinking on interest rates and its balance sheet reduction policy.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 2.49 points or 0.67 percent at 371.46 after sliding 0.2 percent in the previous session.
The German DAX climbed 92.76 points or 0.82 percent to 11,401.97, while France's CAC 40 added 35.43 points or 0.69 percent to 5,195.95 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 49.45 points or 0.69 percent to 7,228.62.
Most of the other markets in Europe were firmly in the green as Austria, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland and Turkey all saw gains of up to 1.2 percent.
Irish nutrition company Glanbia soared 10.5 percent after it agreed to acquire Watson, a non-dairy ingredient solutions business headquartered in Connecticut (US) for US$89 million (€78.65 million).
Danish software company Simcorp jumped 8.6 percent after it announced a share buyback program for up to EUR 12.5m.
Spanish utility Iberdrola advanced 1.7 percent. The company reported 2018 net profit of 3.014 billion euros, 7.5 percent higher than the previous year's 2.804 billion euros.
Air France-KLM Group gained 4 percent in Paris after its fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to 218 million euros from 928 million euros last year.
Footasylum shares plunged 10 percent in London after larger rival JD Sports Fashion Plc increased its stake in the company to more than 18 percent. JD Sports Fashion was half a percent lower.
Lloyds Banking advanced 2.8 percent after reporting a rise in FY18 pre-tax profit.
Sainsbury slumped over 15 percent after the competition watchdog raised a catalogue of concerns over its merger with Asda.
Fresenius shares jumped over 3 percent after the German healthcare firm said it expects earnings to grow faster than sales from 2020.
In economic news, Germany's producer price inflation eased for a second straight month to its lowest level in eight months in January. The producer price index rose 2.6 percent year-on-year in January, following a 2.7 percent in December. Economists were looking for 2.20 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
