European Stocks Higher as China Easing, Omicron Hopes Boost Confidence By Investing.com – Investing.com

European Stocks Higher as China Easing, Omicron Hopes Boost Confidence By Investing.com – Investing.com

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets traded higher Tuesday, helped by China easing monetary policy while concerns about the economic impact of the Omicron Covid variant ease.

At 3:50 AM ET (0850 GMT), the in Germany traded 1.7% higher, the in France rose 1.8% and the U.K.’s climbed 1.1%. 

Gig economy stocks were in the ascendant after new EU rules on worker classification stopped short of forcing companies to treat contractors as employees, with all the additional costs that that would bring. Instead, companies will only have to prove that contractors are indeed just that. Just Eat Takeaway (AS:) stock rose 6.9% while Delivery Hero (DE:) stock rose 4.3%.

This positive tone has also been helped by the decision of the People's Bank of China to cut the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, reducing the amount of cash that banks must hold in reserve.

This move, the second this year, is aimed at loosening liquidity conditions as China Evergrande and other big property developers face debt default risks.

Global equities bounced on Monday on receding worries about the impact of the Omicron variant after health officials from both South Africa,