Europe open: Shares continued positive run as Biden inches towards victory

European shares were higher at the opening on Thursday, pushing further ahead as Joe Biden inched towards the White House while the count in key states continued amid threats of a legal challenge by President Donald Trump.

After a 2% gain on Wednesday, the Stoxx 600 index was up 0.85%with the French CAC 40 up 1.01% and German DAX up 1.2%.

Dow Jones futures were up 296 points, after a 367-point overnight rise.

In the UK, the Bank of England extended the size of its quantitative easing program by £150bn and left rates on hold as it forecast the UK economy to contract in the fourth quarter. A new one-month lockdown was due to start on Thursday.

The Bank also warned unemployment would rise to 7.75% next year and the economy would not return to pre-Covid pandemic levels until the first quarter of 2022, rather than the previously forecast final quarter of 2021

In equity news, Sainsburys lost ground after saying it was axing up to 3,500 jobs as part of a shakeup of its fresh fish and meat counters and Argos stores, while reporting a 6.9% rise in first-half retail sales. The group reported a loss before tax of £137m, reflecting £438m in one-off costs associated with the closure of 120 Argos stores.

Societe Generale rose 5% as the French bank reported a third-quarter profit of €862m and lifted its capital ratio outlook for the year.

Engineering software maker Aveva fell after reporting a 38% drop in adjusted core earnings.

Trainline shares rose 5.5% after the online ticketing platform reported a narrower first-half pre-tax loss of £38.6m, compared with a loss of £87.5m.