Europe: Cyclicals drive shares higher

[LONDON] A recovery among cyclical sectors and a raft of M&A news helped boost European shares further on Thursday, shaking off a tech-led sell-off which had spread across global markets earlier in the week.

Autos stocks led gains as Renault shares jumped 6.4 per cent to the top of the STOXX after Bloomberg reported Nissan and Renault are in talks to merge.

Hopes of dealmaking spread to other autos stocks, driving them up too. Peugeot rose 2.7 per cent, Porsche gained 2.6 per cent and Volkswagen was up 2.4 per cent.

Cyclical basic resources, autos, and banking stocks drove the pan-European STOXX 600 up 0.1 per cent. The index was still set for its worst quarter in two years, however, suffering a 5 per cent decline.

REUTERS