European markets close higher as coronavirus crisis remains in focus; BOE holds rates

• The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up by 1%, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
• Coronavirus data remains in focus as the U.S. and Europe cautiously lift lockdowns.
• The Bank of England held interest rates at 0.1% but said it stands ready to take further action.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday as investors digested the latest news regarding the coronavirus outbreak and efforts to ease lockdown measures.

European markets

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up by more than 1% provisionally, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Retail stocks were the best performers, climbing over 3%.

Coronavirus data remains in focus as the U.S. and Europe cautiously lift lockdowns; the virus has now killed at least 264,000 people worldwide and there are over 3.7 million confirmed cases of Covid-19.

One of the countries that started to lift lockdown restrictions several weeks ago, Germany, reported 1,284 new cases on Thursday — a jump from the 947 new infections a day earlier. That took its tally of confirmed cases to 166,091, according to the latest data by the Robert Koch Institute, the federal government agency responsible for disease monitoring and prevention. The country's death toll rose by 123 to 7,119. 

On Wednesday, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel announced steps to ease the lockdown, but also launched an "emergency brake" mechanism where restrictions could be imposed again if cases pick back up, according to Reuters.

In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated Wednesday that lockdown measures could start to be lifted as early as Monday. He is due to update the nation with details on Sunday.

The Bank of England (BOE) on Thursday held interest rates at 0.1% but said it stands ready to take further action should the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic continue to deteriorate, with U.K. GDP (gross domestic product) expected to fall by 14% this year.

On Wall Street, all the major bourses rose amid mounting bets on the U.S. economy reopening soon. 

In corporate news, Spain's Telefonica agreed to merge its U.K. mobile arm O2 with Liberty Global's British cable unit Virgin Media. The deal, which will create a $39 billion titan in the U.K.'s telecommunications industry, is expected to closed by mid-2021.

Biggest movers

U.K. movie theater operator Cineworld was the best individual performer, rising almost 14% after CEO Mooky Greidinger told the Financial Times that a reopening of cinemas by the end of June was "very realistic."

Meanwhile, German e-commerce company Zalando and biotech firm Morphosys saw their stock prices jump 11% and 10% respectively after posting strong first-quarter earnings.

At the other end of the European blue chip index, travel operator Tui slid by 10.5%.