Hopes for an end to unrest in Hong Kong gave a lift to European stocks in early action on Wednesday.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam is set to formally withdraw the extradition bill that has sparked the nearly three-month old protests, the South China Morning Post reported, citing unnamed sources.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.91% rallied 1.15% to 384.19, buoyed by luxury goods providers including Swatch Group UHR, +2.78% and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton MC, +3.47% that rely on Chinese customers.
Insurer Prudential plc PRU, +3.19% , which according to FactSet last year got 29% of its revenue from Hong Kong, shot up 5.8%, and HSBC Holdings HSBA, +1.79% , which also received 29% of its revenue from Hong Kong, rose 1.9%.
The German DAX DAX, +1.02% jumped 1.34% to 12070.34, the French CAC 40 PX1, +1.23% surged 1.28% to 5536.16 and the U.K. FTSE 100 UKX, +0.46% gained 0.86% to 7330.59.
After a 285-point decline in the Dow industrials DJIA, +0.63% on Monday, U.S. stock futures ES00, +0.86% were higher.