EU stocks up as reopening, stimulus plans outweigh U.S.-China dispute

European stocks continued to rally on Thursday as the reopening of economies and a massive European Central Bank (ECB) stimulus plan offset concerns over rising tensions between the U.S. and China.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 1.2 percent during afternoon trade, with telecoms stocks jumping 2 percent as all sectors entered positive territory except autos, which fell by 1.2 percent.

Shares of Cineworld continued to rally on Thursday, jumping 25% by the early afternoon after the cinema chain received a liquidity boost from lenders ahead of plans to reopen in July.

Luxembourg-based office space provider IWG climbed 15% after a share offering.

At the bottom of the European blue chip index, British luxury car and airplane engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce fell by more than 8% after investor AKO Capital dumped its stake in the company at a discount.

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