BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks advanced on Monday after Democratic candidate Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election, helping remove some political uncertainty.
Biden reportedly topped the necessary 270 Electoral College votes, but President Donald Trump is yet to concede he has lost the key states. Analysts think that Trump's election lawsuits are unlikely to pass legal muster.
Investors are pinning hopes that Biden would push through the fiscal stimulus to get through the Covid-19 pandemic and signal a more predictable approach to trade policy.
The pan European Stoxx 600 rallied 1.5 percent to 371.92 after closing 0.2 percent lower on Friday. The German DAX jumped 1.9 percent, France's CAC 40 index added 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 1.4 percent.
Oil major BP Plc rose about half a percent and Royal Dutch Shell gained over 1 percent as oil prices rose over 2 percent on relief the U.S. presidential election results were finally decided.
British distribution and outsourcing company Bunzl rallied 2.4 percent after announcing an acquisition in Brazil.
Builder Taylor Wimpey soared 11 percent after delivering a bullish update on the country's housing market.
German chipmaker Infineon Technologies jumped 2.5 percent. After posting in-line results for the fourth quarter, the company forecast that revenue would grow by nearly 23 percent in the year ahead.
Volkswagen advanced 2.4 percent. Traton SE, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, has signed an agreement to buy remaining stake in Navistar International Corp. it does not already own for $44.50 per share.
In economic releases, German exports grew more than expected in September, while imports fell unexpectedly, data from Destatis revealed.
France's economic activity was expected to be reduced by 12 percent of normal levels this month as a result of the new lockdown, the Bank of France said.
Sentix's investor confidence index for the euro zone dropped to -10.0 in November from -8.3 in October, falling for a second straight month.
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