Europe open: Stocks in the black on positive US cues

European stocks rose in early trade, taking their cue from an upbeat session in the US, with miners in focus after a series of production reports.

At 0850 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 1%, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were up 1.1%.

David Morrison, senior market strategist at SpreadCo, said: “There’s a positive tone across European equity markets this morning thanks to last night’s rally on Wall Street. The move saw the S&P500 break and close above 2,275 which marks the top end of a range which has been in place since early December. US stock index futures are firmer again this morning with the Dow closing in on the psychologically important 20,000 level.

“The trigger for this latest push was Donald Trump’s televised signing of a number of executive orders. President Trump swept aside environmental concerns and signed orders to expedite the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines while ensuring US steelworkers manufactured the pipes themselves. Investors now expect Mr Trump to be equally as bullish in following through on his promises to cut taxes, roll back regulations and boost infrastructure spending. However, these issues require him to work out deals with Congress and these will prove to be more problematic.”

In terms of sectors, basic resources were among the best performers, with the sub-index 1.2% firmer.

Chilean copper giant Antofagasta rallied after reporting a strong fourth quarter performance, with copper production of 205,500 tonnes, up 13.8% versus the previous quarter, lifting production for the full year to just under 710,000 tonnes, 12.5% higher than the prior year.

Mining giant BHP Billiton was also on the front foot after it posted its operational review for the half year to 31 December, with record production achieved at Western Australia Iron Ore, and total iron ore production of 118 Mt - a 4% rise year-on-year.

Fresnillo nudged a touch higher after achieving record production of gold and silver in 2016, even though the miner experienced some delays in implementing its turnaround plan.

Elsewhere, Novartis gained ground on news it may spin off its ailing eye-care business Alcon due to a slower-than-expected turnaround in the business.

Still to come, the German Ifo survey is at 0900 GMT.