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Sept 4 (Reuters) - Italian stocks led a rebound in European
shares on Wednesday, as political tensions eased after Rome
moved closer to forming a new government, while hopes of
avoiding a no-deal Brexit improved overall investor sentiment.
British lawmakers defeated Boris Johnson in parliament on
Tuesday in a bid to prevent him from taking Britain out of the
EU without a divorce agreement, prompting the prime minister to
announce that he would immediately push for a snap election.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.75% by 0708
GMT, hitting its highest level since Aug. 2.
Italy's FTSE MIB index .FTMIB rose 1.17% - touching a more
than one-month high, after 5-Star members overwhelmingly backed
a proposed coalition with the Democratic Party, opening the way
for a new government to take office. Asia-exposed UK banks HSBC HSBA.L and Prudential PRU.L
were the biggest boosts to the benchmark STOXX 600, after
Chinese media reported that Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam is
expected to announce later on Wednesday the formal withdrawal of
the proposed extradition bill that has triggered major protests
this summer.