BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks eked out modest gains on Thursday as investors cheered signs of progress in U.S. stimulus talks, with U.S. House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin both expressing hope for a breakthrough in partisan stimulus negotiations.
Robust U.S. and Chinese data released on Wednesday also raised hopes of a faster recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Closer home, France's manufacturing sector returned to growth in September despite a surge in new coronavirus cases and the prospect of new restrictions being brought in to curb the spread of the virus, a survey showed.
IHS Markit's final purchasing managers' index rose to 51.2 in September from 49.8 in August. That was slightly up from a preliminary reading of 50.9.
The benchmark CAC 40 was up 12 points, or 0.25 percent, at 4,815 after declining 0.6 percent in the previous session.
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