European shares rise on energy, financials boost

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The region-wide STOXX 600 index was up 0.3% at 0809 GMT in holiday-thinned trading, taking cues from an upbeat session on Wall Street overnight.

Wall Street’s main indexes logged their biggest daily gains so far this month on Wednesday, helped by a reading which showed U.S. consumer confidence rose to an eight-month high in December as inflation retreated and the labour market remained strong.

Among STOXX 600 sectors, energy stocks jumped 0.7% to spearhead gains, as they tracked oil prices higher. [O/R].

Banks were up for a fifth straight session, rising 0.5%.

LondonMetric Property fell 2.4% as Citigroup (NYSE:C) cut the UK-based real estate investment trust’s rating to “neutral” from “buy.”