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May 27 (Reuters) - European shares inched higher on
Wednesday as investors focused on a fresh stimulus plan for the
European Union, while renewed U.S.-China tensions over Hong Kong
tempered optimism about a global economic recovery.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX rose 0.4% in early
deals, led by banks .SX7P , travel and leisure stocks .SXTP ,
and automakers .SXAP .
The eurozone stock index .STOXXE also gained 0.4%, with
the European Commission set to unveil a plan to help the EU
economy recover from its coronavirus slump with a mix of grants,
loans and guarantees exceeding 1 trillion euros. Asian markets, however, struggled after fresh protests in
Hong Kong over new national security laws proposed by Beijing,
while U.S. President Donald Trump warned of a strong response to
China's move by the end of this week. Finnish tyre maker Nokian Tyres Plc TYRES.HE jumped 17% to
the top of the STOXX 600 after it named a new chief executive
officer. Chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG IFXGn.DE dipped 2%
after it raised about 1.06 billion euros ($1.16 billion) by
issuing new shares to partially finance its $10 billion
acquisition of U.S.-based Cypress Semiconductor.