European shares gain as Britain delivers rate cut

(Reuters) – European shares rose for the first time in five sessions on Wednesday, as Britain became the latest country to cut interest rates in a bid to contain the economic damage from the coronavirus epidemic.

The benchmark STOXX 600 () was up 1.4% at 0803 GMT, with London’s FTSE 100 () rising 1.5% after the Bank of England cut rates for the first time since August 2016.

The move also lifted sentiment in Germany (), France () and Spain (), with bourses there adding between 1.4% and 2.2% following four days of declines on the double shock of a collapse in oil prices and the rapid spread of the virus.

All the European sub-sectors were trading higher, with the oil and gas (), utilities (), autos () and banking () indexes among the biggest gainers.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.