Investing.com - European stocks rallied on Wednesday, as investors eyed a batch of euro zone data to be released later in the session and as U.S. President Donald Trump promised a "historic" tax reform.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rallied 1.04%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.15%, while Germany’s DAX 30 jumped 1.17%.
In a highly-anticipated speech to the Congress, U.S. President Donald Trump announced broad overhaul of the U.S. immigration system and vowed to pursue massive tax relief for the middle class but stopped short of giving any details.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) jumped 1.47% and 1.65%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) surged 1.74% and 2.02%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) advanced 0.86% and 1.03% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) gained 0.99% and 1.05%.
Elsewhere, Italian oil group ENI (MI:ENI) climbed 1.10% after reporting net profit of €340 million in the last quarter, recovering from losses posted a year ago.
In London, FTSE 100 advanced 0.59%, helped by GKN (LON:GKN) Plc, whose shares surged 3.06% after the company reported pretax profit of £292 million for 2016, up 19% from £245 million the previous year.
Mining stocks added to gains, as BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Glencore (LON:GLEN) jumped 1.77% and 1.86%. However, rival companies Randgold (LON:RRS) ressources and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) underperformed, with shares down 1.47% and 2.35% respectively.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) inched up 0.07% and Barclays (LON:BARC) rose 0.33%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) rallied 1.30% and 1.52%.
Also on the upside, ITV PLC (LON:ITV) advanced 0.69% after reporting a 3% increase in adjusted earnings per share.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.31% gain, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.38% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.36% rise.