By Sagarika Jaisinghani
(Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday as daily coronavirus death tolls in Spain and Italy eased, while a defiant statement on the crisis from two of the continent's big budget airlines helped battered travel stocks recover.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (STOXX) added 1%, climbing for the sixth time in seven days as the latest numbers from two outbreak hot spots in Europe added to signs the pandemic was plateauing.
Early gains were driven by technology (SX8P), autos (SXAP) and financial (SX7P) stocks, while the travel and leisure index (SXTP) was boosted by a 6.2% jump for budget carrier easyJet (LON:EZJ)
Bigger rival Ryanair (I:RYA) had on Wednesday said it was steeling itself for an airline price war that it expected to win once travel curbs are lifted and passengers flock back to tourist destinations.
"Today's moves are mostly driven by hope and markets are eager to hear any news about lockdown exit strategies and the re-opening of economies," said Stefan Koopman, senior market economist at Rabobank.
The benchmark STOXX 600 has risen to near one-month highs since hitting a trough in March as central banks announced a raft of stimulus, but analysts have warned about another sell-off with economic damage piling up and GDP estimates slashed.
"Markets have become a bit complacent right now because central banks have made quite clear that there are to be no losers, but at some point the economic reality and the reality of corporate earnings has to be reconciled," Koopman said.
All eyes will now be on U.S. weekly jobless numbers, with economists forecasting claims of about 5.1 million in the week ended April 11, which would take the total over the past month to an astounding 20 million.
U.S. President Donald Trump is also expected to announce "new guidelines" for re-opening the economy on Thursday as he said data suggested the country had passed the peak on new coronavirus infections.
"The market set-up remains unclear as the debate around easing social distancing rules is constantly rebooting expectations for a sharp V-shaped recovery," said Stephen Innes, markets strategist at AxiCorp.
"Risk sentiment now seems to depend on how quickly economies can re-open without risking overloading healthcare systems if there's a secondary spread."
In Europe, analysts expect a corporate recession to deepen in 2020, with earnings for STOXX 600 companies falling 22% in the first quarter and 34.2% in the second, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
French state-controlled utility EDF (PA:EDF) fell 4.7% after it forecast a sharp drop in its domestic nuclear power output due to a fall in business activity caused by the health crisis.
But German online fashion retailer Zalando (DE:ZALG) jumped 5.3% as it said it was optimistic about the second quarter after sales picked up in April.
(GRAPHIC: Europe's winners and losers - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/gjnvwzrlpwr/EU%20wins%20and%20losers.png)