EUROPE MARKETS: Europe Stocks Rise On Hopes For End To Hong Kong Unrest

By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

Hopes for an end to unrest in Hong Kong gave a lift to European stocks on Wednesday.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam formally withdrew the extradition bill (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hong-kongs-lam-to-withdraw-extradition-bill-that-triggered-protests-report-says-2019-09-04)that has sparked the nearly three-month old protests.

The Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.76% to 382.70.

Insurer Prudential plc (PRU.LN) , which according to FactSet last year got 29% of its revenue from Hong Kong, shot up 4.6%, and HSBC Holdings (HSBA.LN) , which also received 29% of its revenue from Hong Kong, rose 1.7%.

The German DAX gained 0.81% to 12006.82, the French CAC 40 surged 1.05% to 5523.50 and the U.K. FTSE 100 gained 0.49% to 7304.12.

Of other movers, defense group Thales (HO.FR) rose 5% even after guiding to the lower end of its sales outlook. Its first-half operating profit topped forecasts.

U.K. builder Barratt Developments (BDEV.LN) skidded 4% as it said volumes would come in at the lower end of its medium term targets in the current year. Its pretax profit in the year ending June 30 rose 9%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 04, 2019 11:11 ET (15:11 GMT)

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