MILAN: Positive earnings reports and a surge in commodities shares lifted European stock markets on Wednesday, but losses in defensive sectors and worries about surging coronavirus cases globally tempered the mood.
London-listed mining groups Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Glencore provided the biggest boost, sending the broader mining index up 4.0% on the back of stronger metal prices.
Oil majors BP and Total gained about 2% as oil prices surged on a drop in US crude inventories and a weak dollar.
The broader pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.5% higher, with London's commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rising 1.1% and Germany's DAX up 0.5%.
In earnings-driven moves, German logistics group Deutsche Post AG gained 2.5% after reporting a better-than-forecast rise in operating profit, benefitting from a jump in ecommerce during the pandemic.
Chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor rose 9.1% after posting second-quarter revenue above its previous estimate, while residential real estate company Vonovia was up 3% having confirmed its guidance for the year.
Travel & leisure stocks extended gains for a third straight session, with British Airways-owner IAG, Lufthansa and Easyjet up between 6.5% and 10.5%.
Among the decliners, BMW fell 3.5% as a 25% fall in deliveries of luxury cars during lockdowns pushed the carmaker to a second-quarter operating loss.
Defensive sectors such as food & beverage, healthcare and telecoms, which tend to decouple from the economic cycle, also fell, knocking 0.6% off the Swiss equities index which is heavy on such companies.
"Equity markets rallied alongside continued strength in precious metals," Stephen Gallo, European head of FX strategy, said in a note. "The headline PMI numbers from Europe certainly did not harm risk assets."
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