By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets traded higher Tuesday, boosted by more positive Covid-19 vaccine news as well as strong Chinese factory activity, pointing to a global economic recovery.
At 4:10 AM ET (0910 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 1% higher, the CAC 40 in France rose 1.7% and the U.K.'s FTSE index climbed 1%.
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) sought clearance on Monday for its coronavirus vaccine in both the U.S. and Europe after full results from a late-stage study showed it was 94.1% effective, with no serious safety concerns.
This adds to potential vaccines from both Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) which look set to be rolled out in the near future, and increases hopes of a swift economic rebound next year.
Meanwhile, earlier Tuesday the Caixin manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index showed activity in China's factory sector, an important global growth driver, accelerated at the fastest pace in a decade. The recovery in Chinese manufacturing has driven a big rally in industrial metals, pushing London-listed copper miner Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) to a series of fresh 12-month highs. Antofagasta stock was up 1.4% and is up 26% over the last month.
In Europe, the economic data was also generally positive, with the German unemployment rate falling to 6.1% in November, while the euro-zone manufacturing PMI actually increased to 53.8.
The spread of the Covid-19 virus appears to be weakening in a number of countries in the region, but the impact continues to be felt.
U.K. fashion group Arcadia collapsed into administration late on Monday, with more than 13,000 retail jobs at risk. Deloitte has been appointed the group's administrator and will now seek buyers for brands like Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins. Debenhams, another chronically-challenged fashion chain, also appears on the verge of collapse after JD (NASDAQ:JD) Sports (LON:JD) walked away from rescue talks earlier Tuesday.
Elsewhere, UniCredit (MI:CRDI) stock fell 6.4% after the Italian bank’s CEO Jean Pierre Mustier said he would leave at the end of his term in April due to divergences with the board over strategy.
Staying with banks, Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) stock rose 0.4% after the Swiss bank proposed Lloyds Banking Group's (LON:LLOY) departing chief executive officer Antonio Horta-Osorio as its next chairman.
Oil prices pushed higher Tuesday, despite Reuters reporting that the OPEC+ meeting to discuss production levels has been delayed until Thursday after Russia and the United Arab Emirates proposed a 500,000 barrels a day increase.
The group has been expected to maintain the current cap on supply, rather than raising by 2 million barrels a day in January as previously agreed, given the current weak overall demand.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% higher at $45.69 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 0.8% to $48.26. Both benchmarks surged by 27% in November, boosted by hopes for three promising coronavirus vaccines.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,795.70/oz, after dropping almost 6% in November, its worst month in four years, while EUR/USD traded 0.4% higher at 1.1976.