European stocks are flying

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Stocks across Europe are charging on Tuesday, with all of the continent's major bourses up by more than 1%, and many seeing gains in excess of 2% in mid-afternoon trading. Italy's FTSE MIB is leading gains, up by more than 3% thanks to rampant banking stocks.

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Equities edged lower at the open, but recovered strongly soon aftewards, and have held onto gains since. A combination of factors, including a falling euro, pushed lower by the rampant pound, and reassurance from UBS boss Axel Weber that a hike in interest rates from the US Fed may not be a negative for the markets.

Here's how the FTSE 100 looks at around 3:20 p.m. BST (10:20 a.m. ET):

ftse 100 may 24

Investing.com

And here's Europe's biggest gainer, Italy's FTSE MIB

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FTSE MIB may 24

Investing.com

On a stock-by-stock basis here in the UK, Britain's biggest supermarket Tesco is the biggest riser, up by more than 6.5%. RBS, St. James's Place, Old Mutual, and Legal & General are all more than 4% higher.

Stocks across the rest of the continent are also sharply higher. Here's the scoreboard:

  • German DAX: up 2.04% to 10,043
  • Eurostoxx 50: up 2.27% to 3,006
  • French CAC 40: up 2.26% to 4,422
  • Spanish IBEX 35: up 2.09% to 8,896

Here's what Accendo Markets' Augustin Eden said in an email sent to Business Insider earlier today:

Equities have again gone positive after starting the day in the red, with the UK 's FTSE100 staging a sharp pop upwards to test its April falling highs. Confidence there may have stemmed from UBS Boss Axel Weber telling CNBC that a US rate hike would not be a bad thing (i.e. what's all the fuss about?), yet maintaining he didn't think it would move anyway until better signs of economic strength are evident. An upbeat tone looks to have temporarily stifled the hitherto negative pressures stemming from (mainly non-voting, remember) US Federal Reserve hawks, who've seemed pretty chuffed with the effect they've had on the markets over the past week or so.

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European stocks have also popped higher on a weaker Euro after Sterling went up on the back of a new poll by the Telegraph suggesting the UK's over-6os, men and Tories (the three groups relied upon by Brexiteers to vote 'leave') are now bedding down in the 'remain' camp.

Elsewhere in the markets, gold is getting crushed (down 1.35%) thanks to a strengthening dollar making the rare metal less attractive. Gold is now at a near four-week low. Oil is seeing gains on the day, with Brent crude up by 0.79%, and WTI crude 1.12% higher.

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