Europe Markets: European stocks push higher, bolstered by optimism over a U.S.-China trade deal

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European stock markets pushed higher on Tuesday—on the heels of another record day for Wall Street—with gains for banks and miners helping to lift the Stoxx Europe 600 index.

The index SXXP, +0.67%  rose 0.6% to 408.41 after finishing flat at 405.99 on Monday. That close was 0.2% off a 52-week high of 406.90 reached on Nov. 12.

The German DAX DAX, -0.20%  jumped 1% to 13341.67, the French CAC 40 PX1, +0.47% rose 0.4% to 5955.55 and the U.K. FTSE UKX, +1.28% climbed 0.9% to 7378.64. The pound GBPUSD, -0.1081%  held on to gains from Monday stemming from polls that showed incumbent U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gaining further ground over the Labour Party ahead of the Dec. 12 general election.

U.S. stock benchmarks squeezed out fresh all-time highs on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.11%  pushing further past the 28,000 level. U.S. stock futures ES00, +0.25%  were higher.

Investors are staying optimistic about global stocks amid hopes for more trade progress between China and the U.S., but there is a risk, said Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades, the brokerage, in a note to clients.

“Investors have already priced a trade deal in with many benchmarks around the world now hitting record prices and P/E [price to earnings] ratio levels. This could be a dangerous situation for bull traders if negotiations between Beijing and Washington slow down as many traders have already bought the rumor,” Veyret wrote.

On the data front, EU new-car registrations—a reflection of sales—rose 8.7% year on year to 1.18 million vehicles, the highest total for October since 2009, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said on Tuesday.

The German bourse was supported by a 2% gain for software group SAP SAP, -0.22% SAP, +2.03%  and a 1.5% gain for multinational conglomerate Siemens SIE, +1.30% SIE, +1.00%.

Banks rose across the board, led by more than 1% gains for HSBC HSBC, +0.62% HSBA, +2.02%  and BNP Paribas BNP, +1.03%.

Trade optimism kept mining stocks elevated, with Rio Tinto RIO, +0.04% RIO, +1.87%  climbing more than 2%, and Glencore GLEN, +1.98%  up 2.7%.

Shares of easyJet EZJ, +3.37% jumped 4.5% after the budget airline posted a fiscal-year profit drop, but also reported forward bookings for the first half of next year slightly ahead annually. EasyJet also said it plans to make all flights net-zero carbon, and announced plans to launch easyJet holidays in the U.K. before Christmas.

On the downside, shares of SES SESG, -19.59% tumbled 13% a day after Ajit Pai, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, said via Twitter he would back a public auction to get a swath of satellite spectrum into the hands of 5G mobile users. SES and other satellite companies were lobbying for a private auction.

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