By Investors Hub
European stocks are extending gains from the previous session, with rising oil prices, relative strength in the dollar and encouraging economic data from the U.K. and euro area helping underpin investor sentiment.
While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index has edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are jumping by 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
Better-than-expected U.S. car sales data has helped lift automakers, while banks are also trading broadly higher.
Meanwhile, French alcoholic beverage company Remy Cointreau has come under pressure after Investec downgraded the stock. Department store chain Debenhams has also slumped in London after a profit warning.
On the economic front, the Eurozone private sector expanded the most since early 2011, driven by a near-record expansion of manufacturing and the strongest growth in the service sector in over six-and-a-half years.
The composite output index rose to 58.1 in December from 57.5 in November, final data from IHS Markit showed, with the index reaching the highest level since February of 2011.
U.K. house prices increased at a slightly faster pace at the end of 2017, data from Nationwide Building Society showed. House prices grew 2.6 percent year-on-year in December, slightly faster than the 2.5 percent increase seen in November.
Another report from Markit Economics revealed that the U.K. services PMI jumped to 54.2 in December from 53.8 in November.
Adedapo Adesanya