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March 20 (Reuters) - European shares jumped for a second
straight session on Friday, as a wave of fiscal and monetary
stimulus tempted investors back into equity markets after days
of selling on signs the world was heading into a deep,
coronavirus-driven recession.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was up 4.9% at
0814 GMT and on course to erase the entire week's declines.
Travel and leisure stocks .SXTP jumped 7.6% in a surprise
move, leading gains among the major European subsectors, while
energy firms .SXEP added 7.3% on the back of a recovery in oil
prices. O/R
Bank stocks .SX7P jumped 4.2% from their lowest in three
decades after the UK's central bank joined its European peers in
suspending stress tests for 2020. Still, the STOXX 600 was on track for its worst month since
October 1987 as the rapidly spreading coronavirus forced several
nations in the bloc to impose a lockdown.
Italian shares .FTMIB lagged other major stock markets as
the death toll from COVID-19 in the country overtook that of
China, where the disease first emerged late last year.