European Stocks Rise on COVID-19 Vaccine Hopes

Hopes for a vaccine for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have helped European stocks close Wednesday higher, as the pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index gained 0.2%.

In the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the DAX30 index fell by 0.41%. In Paris and London, the French CAC40 and the FTSE100 indexes lost 0.19% each.

Data showed that unemployment claims in Germany recorded 627,000 in May, increasing by 48.5% on an annual basis.

The Spanish index, IBEX35, settled nearly unchanged, while the Italian stock exchange main index FTSE MIB closed lower by 0.23%.

It was reported earlier that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is showing promising results.

Simultaneously, recent remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that the UK and the European Union have made a very limited progress regarding the BREXIT deal.