BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks edged higher on Thursday to hover near a three-week high as expectations of a targeted U.S. stimulus package helped investors shrug off concerns over rising Covid-19 cases in France, Spain and the Czech Republic.
The pan European Stoxx 600 rose half a percent to 367.37 after closing 0.1 percent lower on Wednesday. The German DAX rose half a percent while France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were up around 0.3 percent.
Flavor and fragrance maker Givaudan declined 2 percent after its nine-month sales totaled 4.79 billion Swiss francs, an increase of 3.7 percent on a like-for-like basis and 2.7 percent in Swiss francs.
Swiss engineering company ABB dropped 1.5 percent. The company said its high-precision robots are used to accelerate Covid-19 testing in Singapore.
Ratos AB climbed 3.2 percent after U.S. business analytics company Dun & Bradstreet announced it would acquire Europe's Bisnode from the Swedish private equity firm.
Sensor maker AMS fell over 1 percent after announcing new measures to secure long-term financing.
German sugar producer Suedzucker plunged 8 percent. A disappointing sugar beet crop expected in Europe this year, weaker trend in world sugar prices and the economic uncertainty from Covid-19 are still creating uncertainty for the sugar sector, the company said.
Evotec advanced 1.7 percent after it received a $6 million payment from Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMY) following the decision to expand the portfolio by another drug discovery project.
Mass media company Prosiebensat 1 Media SE surged almost 5 percent after an upgrade by Goldman Sachs to 'buy'.
GVC Holdings rallied 3.4 percent after the bookmaker raised earnings expectations for 2020.
Hargreaves Lansdown shares slumped 5.6 percent despite the financial services company making a good start to the financial year.
In economic releases, German exports growth slowed in August, while growth in imports gained momentum, data from Destatis revealed.
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