Doha: European stocks rose to a record level at the start of Wednesday’s trading. The pan-European STOXX 600 index climbed by 0.48 percent to 582.91 points by 08:19 GMT.

According to Qatar News Agency, the utilities sector led the sectoral gains after rising by 1.4 percent. Shares of British company SSE jumped by 12.3 percent after revealing a five-year investment plan worth GBP 33 billion (USD 44.29 billion) in its effort to upgrade the UK’s electricity networks and its renewable-energy business. Conversely, shares of the French company Edenred dropped by 10 percent.