MILAN: Shares rose and the dollar steadied at new highs on Wednesday, with overnight gains by Wall Street tech champions helping balance concerns that new restrictions to counter coronavirus infections will hurt the economic recovery.
Renewed hopes of stimulus measures in Europe also came into play after surveys of private-sector economic activity in September painted a gloomy picture for the region, with rising Covid-19 infections leading to a downturn in services.
MSCI’s world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, was 0.3pc higher, while the pan-European benchmark progressively extended opening gains to rise by 1.3pc.
Technology shares were among the strongest gainers from the start in Europe following a rally overnight in US heavyweights Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple, and a positive performance earlier of peers in Asia. Tech companies have been rare beneficiaries of lockdown measures, with more people working and shopping from home.
A rebound in beaten-down sectors provided extra support.
