French stocks rallied on Wednesday, with optimism about a Brexit trade deal, hopes of effective coronavirus vaccines and the growing prospect of more U.S. fiscal stimulus helping underpin investor sentiment.
On the Covid-19 front, a number of European countries have tightened restrictions ahead of Christmas.
Germany entered a strict lockdown today, while France is introducing a night-time curfew.
The Netherlands has entered a five-week lockdown. An adviser to Italy's health ministry has called for coronavirus restrictions to be drastically tightened to avoid a "national tragedy".
In the U.K., government officials are meeting today to discuss whether to change or scrap the Christmas rules relaxation.
The benchmark CAC 40 index climbed 48 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,578 after inching up 0.1 percent on Tuesday.
In stock-specific action, Alstom SA rose about 1 percent. The speed-train maker said it has received a contract to design, build and maintain the transport system for Toulouse Metropole's third metro line.
Automakers were moving higher, with Renault gaining 1 percent and Peugeot adding 1.7 percent.
In economic releases, the French private sector logged a softer decline in December despite strict Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, flash survey results from IHS Markit showed.
The flash composite output index advanced more-than-expected to 49.6 from 40.6 in November. The expected score was 42.9.
Service providers registered a substantially slower reduction compared to November's six-month record. Meanwhile, manufacturers posted a fresh expansion in output.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
