European shares start week on firm footing, vaccine developments eyed

European shares rebounded on Monday after a Wall Street-led rout in technology stocks kept global sentiment subdued in the previous week, with investors keeping a close watch on Covid-19 vaccine developments.

Australia expects to receive its first batches of a potential Covid-19 vaccine in January after a deal was struck with CSL to manufacture two vaccines - one developed by rival AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and another in CSL's own labs with the University of Queensland.

AstraZeneca rose 1.5 per cent. The European healthcare sector index jumped 0.9 per cent.


The STOXX 600 index was 0.8 per cent higher by 0709 GMT, with Frankfurt shares leading gains after rising 1 per cent.

Shares of insurers, banks and automakers climbed more than 1 per cent in early trading.