By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Trave shares find relief as geopolitical fears fade

European stocks rose by the most in a week Wednesday, helped in part by losses for the euro on a report about the European Central Bank's considerations for expanding its stimulus efforts for the eurozone economy.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.4% to close at 380.84 as all sectors advanced, led by the consumer-services group . The gain was the biggest since Nov. 17. The index on Tuesday dropped 1.2% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-head-for-second-straight-loss-2015-11-24) after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border.

On Wednesday, the euro fell below $1.06, trading at its lowest since April, after a Reuters report (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-falls-on-report-ecb-considers-broadening-out-qe-bond-buys-2015-11-25) that ECB policy makers were looking at widening the scope of their bond buying or implementing a two-tier penalty charge on banks that leave cash with the central bank.

The central bank earlier this year launched a 1.1-trillion-euro ($1.18 trillion) asset-buying program.

The report is "suggesting the ECB is preparing to throw everything but the proverbial kitchen sink into its unorthodox monetary policy," Brown Brothers Harriman currency analysts, led by Marc Chandler, wrote in a note. "A two-tiered negative deposit rate, which would ostensibly punish large depositors at the ECB over small depositors, is likely to be resisted by Germany and France. Their banks are the largest users of the ECB's facility."

The euro fetched $1.0610 in late European trade compared with $1.0644 late Tuesday.

The euro's drop helped shares of exporters, a particular boost for the export-oriented German economy. All constituents of Germany's DAX 30 ended higher, pushing the index up 2.2% to 11,169.54. That's the DAX's highest close since Aug. 11.

In Frankfurt, shares of auto maker BMW AG (BMW.XE) climbed 2.3%, Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) rose 3.8% and industrial conglomerate Siemens AG (SIE.XE) tacked on 1.5%. Shares of potash producer K+S AG (SDF.XE) rallied 7.7%.

France's CAC 40 surged 1.5% to 4,892.99, with LafargeHolcim Ltd. shares rising 4.3% as the building-materials group said it plans to raise 3.5 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lafargeholcim-plans-35-billion-in-asset-sales-2015-11-25) next year from selling off cement assets.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1% to 6,337.64, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-stocks-move-higher-ahead-of-british-spending-review-2015-11-25)its highest close in nearly three weeks led by housing stocks.

Travel sector: Most travel shares moved higher, following Tuesday's tough session after the downing of the Russian warplane highlighted geopolitical risks. Russia has been running airstrikes in Syria, targeting terrorist group ISIS.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan reportedly said Wednesday that Turkey has "no intention of escalating" tensions after the incident, which underscored geopolitical risks tied to recent terror attacks.

Travel services provider TUI AG gained 1.9% and Ryanair Holdings PLC edged up 0.3%, but Air France-KLM (AF.FR) lost 2.9%. Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) rose 2.7%, alongside an announcement that cabin crew have called off a strike this week (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lufthansa-cabin-crew-call-off-strike-2015-11-25-44852853).

Thomas Cook Group PLC (TCG.LN) rallied 10.8%, its strongest gain in nearly two years coming after the holiday organizer swung to a full-year profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/thomas-cook-swings-to-profit-despite-attacks-2015-11-25) for the first time since 2010.

"Despite the fragile geopolitical environment, our business has continued to grow. we remain confident on delivering on our expectations for the current financial year," Thomas Cook said in a statement.

Travel stocks on Tuesday also felt the weight of a U.S. government alert warning travelers of terror-related risks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/worldwide-travel-alert-issued-days-before-thanksgiving-2015-11-23).

Read: Will the terror attacks change your holiday plans? (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-terror-attacks-will-impact-the-holidays-2015-11-20)

ECB warns: The central bank on Wednesday said the European financial system faces some risks from emerging markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ecb-warns-of-emerging-markets-risk-to-europe-2015-11-25), particularly China. "Occasional bouts of financial market volatility suggest that vulnerabilities stemming from emerging markets are increasing. Of particular concern is the outlook for China, given its growing role in the world economy," the ECB said in its twice-yearly Financial Stability Review.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2015 13:23 ET (18:23 GMT)