European stocks rise as banks exceed forecast

European stocks climbed, led by mining and bank shares, as lenders borrowed more than double what was forecast under the European Central Bank’s TLTRO program.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.3% to 375.21 as of 11:31 London time, set to end three days of losses. European miners extended their gains to 0.9%, following metals prices higher, and the banks sector rose 0.6%.  

Lenders were allotted €233.5bn in final round of Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations, the ECB said.

US equities gained on Wednesday, before a possible procedural vote on a Republican health-care bill on Thursday. The British Parliament returned to work, having been shut down on Wednesday after the London attack that had the markings of terror.

With U.S. stocks earlier this week experiencing their first pullback in more than four months, investors are increasingly comparing them to alternatives in Europe. The Stoxx 600 trades more cheaply, at about 1.8 times book value, and 15 times estimated earnings.

"Overweight UK & Switzerland, underweight Germany & France," Deutsche Bank said in a note.

"Improving macro momentum has been the key driver of the European equity market over the past eight months, leading cyclical country indexes, such as Germany and France, to outperform.

We expect both to underperform going forward, as the recent surge in global growth momentum starts to fade."

Gemalto extended its losses, having slumped 17% on Wednesday, after cutting its profit forecast.

IG Group Holding, a global online trading company, fell as much as 6.8% after saying third-quarter revenue slipped from a year earlier, and that revenue per client dropped 15%.

Scandic Hotels Group rose as much as 9% after news that Sunstorm Holding, controlled by EQT V and Accent Equity 2003, divested all of its stake.