Europe midday: Shares extend gains as Puma, Adidas kick on

Europe stocks extended gains on Wednesday driven by leisure and sports shares.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.90% at 1200 GMT, with major bourses all higher.

"It was a mixed session overnight in Asia with the ASX in Australia outperforming. Experts say Beijing will face a surge in covid cases over the next two weeks, which will test the Chinese authorities’ resolve to stick to its strict policy unwind," said Interactive Investor head of investment Victoria Scholar.

In economic news, German consumer sentiment is set to improve in January, thanks in part to the government’s energy relief packages, according to a survey released on Wednesday by market research group GfK.

GfK’s forward-looking consumer sentiment index for January printed at -37.8, up from a revised -40.1 in December, coming in above consensus expectations of -38.0.

The survey showed that the propensity to buy index ticked up by 2.3 points to -16.3. Meanwhile, the index for income expectations rose 10.9 points on the month to -43.4. The economic expectations gauge rose 7.6 points to -10.3.

In the UK, public borrowing jumped to £22bn last month as surging debt interest costs pushed the deficit to its highest ever November level.

November borrowing was £13.9bn higher year on year and the highest November borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.

In equity news, Uniper shares surged after the European Commission on Tuesday approved a €34.5bn German government plan to recapitalise the natural gas trader.

Upbeat quarterly sales from US giant Nike drove gains in sportswear Adidas, Puma and JD Sports.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com