BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks rose on Wednesday to extend gains from the previous session after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the Fed's commitment to use all of its monetary policy tools for as long as necessary to support the economy.
Investors shrugged off flash survey data from IHS Markit showing that the euro area private sector stagnated in September. The composite output index declined to 50.1 in September from 51.9 in August. Economists had forecast the reading to drop to 51.7.
Manufacturing output growth accelerated in September to the fastest since February 2018, while services recorded the largest contraction of output since May.
Elsewhere in the U.K., the IHS Markit/CIPS flash composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to a three-month low of 55.7 after hitting a six-year high of 59.1 in the previous month.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.5 percent to 362.76 after closing 0.2 percent higher in the previous session. The German DAX, France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were up between 1.7 percent and 2.4 percent.
Austrian sensor maker ams rallied 3.5 percent after the company said it had entered into a domination and profit and loss transfer agreement with German firm Osram Licht. Shares of the latter jumped 14 percent.
Dialog Semiconductor rose 2 percent and Infineon Technologies gained 1.4 percent following a rally overnight in big U.S. tech stocks Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple.
Sportswear brand Puma surged 5.3 percent and Adidas added 5.5 percent after Nike Inc easily beat analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue and profit.
Siemens AG edged up 1.2 percent after extending its strategic partnership with Atos for five years in the areas of services modernization and digitalization, data driven digital, cloud transformation and cybersecurity.
Peugeot shares jumped 4 percent after the automaker said it would buy back 10 million of its own shares from Dongfeng Motors. Renault surged 4.3 percent.
Diploma shares surged as much as 25 percent in London after the technical products and services provider said it had agreed to buy Windy City Wire Cable and Technology Products for £357m.
SSP Group jumped more than 13 percent. The catering company said sales have recovered since stores reopened.
Halma advanced 1.7 percent. The hazard detection company stated that it has delivered a resilient performance in line with the Board's expectations for the period from 1 April 2020 to date.
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