UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Banks, mining stocks lead the gainers for a second day

Europe's main stock gauge climbed higher on Thursday, driving a fifth day of gains for the index, as banks and mining stocks once again doing the heavy lifting.

What are markets doing?

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5%, after Wednesday's gain of 0.3% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-rise-led-by-surge-for-biotech-galapagos-2018-09-12). A five-day win streak would be the longest since a six-day run in July. The index is up around 1% for the week so far.

Germany's DAX 30 rose 0.6% to 12,292.72, while France's CAC 40 jumped 0.9% to 5,439.31. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 7,342.20.

The euro rose to $1.1752 from $1.1673 late in New York Wednesday, while the pound was at its strongest since mid-July (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-slides-as-british-pound-and-new-zealands-kiwi-rally-on-data-2018-09-20), buying $1.32974, compared with $1.3143 late Wednesday.

What is driving the market?

U.K. retail sales for August beat forecasts, driving the pound higher, while Brexit concerns continued to cloud the investor horizon. A European Union summit in Salzburg was under way, with leaders hoping to nudge Prime Minister Theresa May and stalled Brexit talks to a solution.

Read:Why another Brexit summit is unlikely to put investors at ease (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-another-brexit-summit-is-unlikely-to-put-investors-at-ease-2018-09-18)

Growing optimism over the trade picture continued to drive some gains, with metals stocks again acting as support for the overall European index. President Donald Trump earlier this week reiterated a hard-line stance on China, announcing another $267 billion in duties on China, while China responded with tariffs of 5% to 10% on $60 billion worth of U.S. products. Still, investors remain of the mind-set the two will reach agreement.

What are strategists saying?

"The fears over US-China trade are likely to persist from some time yet, but with the likes of copper (-17%), zinc (-27%), and lead (-20%) trading substantially down on the year, those with a longer-term view will see this as a great buying opportunity," said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, in a note to clients.

Stock movers

A swath of banks underpinned the main European index, led by a 2% climb for Nordea Bank (NDA.SK), a 2.6% gain each for Svenska Handelsbanken AB and Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) (SAN) and a 2% gain for BNP Paribas (BNP.FR).

Shares of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO.LN) (RIO.LN) surged 2.7% after the global mining company announced said it would return the proceeds of the sale of coal assets via buybacks to the tune of $3.2 billion (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rio-tinto-outlines-32-billion-share-buyback-plan-2018-09-20).

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rio-tinto-outlines-32-billion-share-buyback-plan-2018-09-20)Autos also climbed, with Daimler AG (DAI.XE) up 1.6%, Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) jumped 1.8%, while Volvo AB (VOLV-B.SK) climbed 2.2%. And Aston Martin priced its London listing (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aston-martin-prices-london-ipo-near-expectations-between-402-billion-and-507-billion-2018-09-20), valuing the luxury-car maker between at up to 5.07 billion pounds ($6.66 billion).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 20, 2018 09:23 ET (13:23 GMT)

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