European shares rally as FTSE starts 2017 by setting record high

By Kit Rees and Atul Prakash LONDON (Reuters) - Strength in financials and commodity-related stocks continued to underpin European equity markets on Tuesday, with Britain's blue-chip index starting the new year at a record high and other major indexes hitting fresh peaks. Britain's FTSE 100 , shut on Monday for a holiday, closed 0.5 percent higher at 7,177.89 points, a record closing high, after a fresh all-time peak of 7,205.45 earlier in the day. "We've been particularly bullish on the FTSE wh