(Reuters) - European shares rose for the fourth straight session on Thursday, as optimism over businesses returning to work and a massive stimulus plan for the European Union outweighed concerns over rising U.S.-China tensions.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (STOXX) rose 0.6% by 0718 GMT, with travel & leisure (SXTP), telecoms (SXKP) and automakers (SXAP) leading the gains.
The benchmark index has climbed more than 30% from March lows as investors pinned hopes on a gradual recovery with policymakers injecting trillions of dollars in the global economy and drugmakers racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
French aerospace companies Airbus (PA:AIR) and Safran (PA:SAF) rose 0.5% and 2.2%, respectively, after Boeing Co (N:BA) said it had resumed production of its 737 MAX passenger jet at its Washington plant.
Scandinavian airline SAS (ST:SAS) slumped 9.1% after reporting a deep loss in the second quarter and said it was in intensive talks with shareholders to tap more funding to help it ride out a collapse in global air travel.