European shares trudge higher as stimulus wave stems selloff

(Reuters) – European shares attempted another rebound on Tuesday after slumping in the previous session, as a fresh round of monetary and fiscal stimulus offered some relief even as the coronavirus pandemic spreads rapidly across the globe.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index <.STOXX> was up 3% at 0802 GMT, but still set for its worst month since 1987 as the health crisis threatened to crimp global growth, with some analysts seeing a 24% fall in European GDP in the second quarter.

Although investors have largely shrugged off macroeconomic data so far, all eyes will now be on a flash reading of activity surveys from the euro zone due later in the day for signs of the extent of the economic damage from the outbreak.

Travel and leisure stocks <.SXTP>, which have posted some of the heaviest losses this month, were up 2.6% in early trading.

Miners <.SXPP>, insurers <.SXIP> and oil and gas stocks <.SEXP> were the biggest gainers among the major European subsectors, rising between 5% and 6%.

France’s Biomérieux jumped 30% after the healthcare company won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its product aimed at testing for coronavirus.

(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)