European shares touch two-month high; UK's Sage hits record high

European shares climbed to a two-month high on Wednesday, led by real estate stocks, with software firm Sage jumping to a record high following a strong annual operating profit and share buy back plan. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2% by 0937 GMT, while real estate stocks led sectoral gains, rising 1.1%.

European shares climbed to a two-month high on Wednesday, led by real estate stocks, with software firm Sage jumping to a record high following a strong annual operating profit and share buy back plan.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2% by 0937 GMT, while real estate stocks led sectoral gains, rising 1.1%. Further, a gauge of euro zone equity volatility retained its downtrend, reaching its lowest level since July.

Meanwhile, euro zone bonds were little changed after central bank officials did little to disabuse investors' hopes that the next move in interest rates will be down. Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's last policy meeting showed officials agreed to proceed "carefully" and only raise rates if inflation spikes again, while European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said victory has not yet been won and bets based on short-term data flow are premature.

"The big picture hasn't really changed, I suppose that markets are close to being fairly valued and there's no huge positive catalyst, but yet investors are still waiting thinking things are going to get better sometime soon, and that's what they've been saying for a year," said Michael Field, Europe market strategist at Morningstar. Among individual stocks, Sage jumped 10.1% to top the STOXX 600 after it reported an 18% rise in full-year underlying operating profit and said margins would continue to increase this year. The British company also announced a 350-million pound share buyback programme.

Thyssenkrupp jumped 5.9% after the German submarine-to-steel group reported full-year results with "strong" free cash flow. Hugo Boss rose 2.4% after Deutsche Bank and BofA Global Research upgraded their ratings on the German fashion house's stock.

Adevinta gained 5.2% after a consortium led by Permira and Blackstone offered to buy the online classifieds group for about NOK 141 bln ($13.1 bln). Monte dei Paschi di Siena recovered 0.7% after Tuesday's 7.9% drop as Italy sold a 25% stake in the bailed-out bank. Meanwhile, rating agency Moody's upgraded the bank's ratings by one notch and confirmed its positive outlook.

Meanwhile, home improvement retailer Kingfisher dropped 6.8% after downgrading its full-year profit outlook for the second time in three months.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)