(Reuters) – European shares rose for the first time in five sessions on Wednesday, as Britain became the latest country to cut interest rates in a bid to contain the economic damage from the coronavirus epidemic.
The benchmark STOXX 600 <.STOXX> was up 1.4% at 0803 GMT, with London’s FTSE 100 <.FTSE> rising 1.5% after the Bank of England cut rates for the first time since August 2016.
The move also lifted sentiment in Germany <.GDAXI>, France <.FCHI> and Spain <.IBEX>, with bourses there adding between 1.4% and 2.2% following four days of declines on the double shock of a collapse in oil prices and the rapid spread of the virus.
All the European sub-sectors were trading higher, with the oil and gas <.SXEP>, utilities <.SX6P>, autos <.SXAP> and banking <.SX7P> indexes among the biggest gainers.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
