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The pan-European STOXX 600 (STOXX), which like other global markets has struggled in the face of new bouts of coronavirus infections in the China and a number of other economies, rose 0.5% at 0705 GMT, with Frankfurt shares (GDAXI) leading gains.
The European Council will have its first meeting to discuss a commission’s proposal to raise 750 billion euros worth of debt to top up spending from joint coffers to be worth 1.1 trillion euros in 2021-27.
COVID-19 cases continued to rise as around 400 workers at a slaughterhouse in northern Germany tested positive for the virus on Thursday, while cases rose in several U.S. states and Beijing.
Among stocks, Lufthansa (DE:LHAG) rose 3.5% after its biggest shareholder, German billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, reached out to Berlin politicians for talks, newspaper Handelsblatt reported, the latest step in a standoff over the airline’s 9 billion euro ($10.1 billion) bailout.
