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Casino jumped 7.8 percent to lead
Despite Casino's share price gains, the retail indexunderperformed the wider market. Amazon's expansion into theEuropean grocery industry has struck fear into investors in somesupermarket stocks seen as less adapted to a new retailenvironment.
A 4.8 percent fall in H&M shares also draggedretail stocks down. The Swedish fashion firm flagged furthermarkdowns in the second quarter, reporting profits for Q1 fellroughly as expected.
The STOXX 600 index gained 1.4 percent, on trackfor its best day in seven weeks, while
European markets took their cue from a robust rebound onWall Street and Asian stocks after reports the
Shares in spreadbetting firms suffered losses at the openafter European markets regulator ESMA moved to restrictcontract-for-difference and binary options trading "to protectretail investors".
They recovered swiftly, however. IG Group was lasttrading down 0.5 percent, CMC Markets up 0.6 percentand Plus500 up 3.2 percent.(Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by Kit Rees)