European shares open higher as luxury, commodity-linked stocks jump

European shares opened higher on Friday as news of China easing its stringent COVID rules boosted commodity-linked stocks as well as luxury goods retailers, which also got a lift from Richemont's better-than-expected sales and margins. The STOXX 600 index advanced 0.4% by 0812 GMT, with Swiss luxury group Richemont surging 10.9% to the top of the index.

European shares opened higher on Friday as news of China easing its stringent COVID rules boosted commodity-linked stocks as well as luxury goods retailers, which also got a lift from Richemont's better-than-expected sales and margins.

The STOXX 600 index advanced 0.4% by 0812 GMT, with Swiss luxury group Richemont surging 10.9% to the top of the index. China-exposed luxury giants LVMH, Kering , Pernod Ricard and Hermes International rose between 1.2% and 3.7% to boost the euro zone blue-chips index by 0.7%.

The European basic resources sector index jumped 2.5%, while energy stocks rose 0.4% as prices of base metals and oil shot up. China eased some of its COVID rules, including shortening quarantines by two days for close contacts of infected people and for inbound travellers and removing a penalty for airlines for bringing in too many cases.

Market sentiment was largely positive since the previous session when a smaller-than-expected rise in October U.S. inflation bolstered hopes of less aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve going ahead.