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Brussels: European stocks closed up one percent on Wednesday, with travel and financial services shares among the biggest gainers, supported by expectations of de-escalation in the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 1.3 percent to 586.73 points, after recovering some of its losses on Tuesday.
Shares of travel and leisure companies, which had earlier this month fallen by two percent, rose, while the banking sector increased by 1.6 percent.
The airline sector, which is highly sensitive to oil prices, also rose, with shares of Lufthansa and Air France climbing 2.4 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.
Among individual stocks, shares of Spanish pharmaceutical company Grifols rose 8.1 percent.
