European Stocks Climb as Miners to Tech Rise Before G-20 Summit

(Bloomberg) -- European equities advanced at the open with mining and technology shares leading the gains following a sharp rally on Wall Street sparked by dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.6 percent. Rio Tinto added 2.8 percent and Glencore rose 3.1 percent. Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 1 percent after the Stampa newspaper reported that Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is “optimistic” that a 2.2 percent deficit target can avoid the start of an EU excessive debt procedure.

Investors will be looking out for any hopeful signals on trade from a meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents that will take place at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires this weekend. U.S. equity traders rejoiced on Wednesday after the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell fueled speculation the central bank may pause lifting interest rates next year.

“It’s somewhat ironic that the Fed Chair’s speech on financial stability would elicit a large financial market reaction, but investors heard exactly what they were hoping for,” said Brian Jacobsen, senior investment strategist at Wells Fargo Asset Management. “Growth is good and inflation is low, so they may as well take it slow."

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