Reuters
China's central bank cut its five-year loan prime rate by a larger-than-expected 15 basis points (bps), boosting global market sentiment even as COVID-19 cases in Shanghai climbed again. Travel and tourism stocks, financial services, healthcare and utilities led gains in Europe, rising between 1.5% and 2.0%, lifting the pan-European STOXX 600 index 0.7%. "It is not surprising perhaps that we have a little bit of a bounce today given the good news from China overnight and as we have had some very negative days this week," said Jonathan Bell, chief investment officer at Stanhope Capital.