On Tuesday, European stocks closed with significant gains due to promising earnings reports, reassuring economic data, and anticipation of interest rate cuts from central banks in Q2. The Pan European Stoxx 600 saw a 1.14% increase. The UK's FTSE 100 rose 1.22%, Germany's DAX increased by 1.4%, and France’s CAC 40 finished 0.99% higher. Switzerland’s SMI increased by 1.64%.
Notably, other European markets such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey closed with substantial gains. Meanwhile, countries such as Finland and Norway closed moderately higher, whereas Iceland, Poland, and Russia closed on a weak note.
In the UK, companies like DCC, SSE, Barclays Group, Persimmon, Fresnillo, Experian, Weir Group, Flutter Entertainment, and Lloyds Banking saw gains between 3 and 4.5%. Other companies such as Barratt Developments, Land Securities, and Rentokil gained nearly 3%. Despite a decrease in its revenue forecast for the current fiscal year, German market's Infineon shares soared nearly 13%.
In the French market, companies like Essilor, STMicroElectronics, Pernod Ricard, Societe Generale, Dassault Systemes, and BNP Paribas gained 2 to 3.1%. Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG's shares soared nearly 8% as it returned to profit after two quarters of loss.
Economic data from Destatis showed that Germany's factory orders had decreased by 0.4% in a month, contrary to expectations of a 0.4% increase. However, Eurostat data showed a 0.8% rebound in Eurozone retail sales in March compared to a 0.3% decrease in February.
Germany's exports rebounded at a faster-than-expected pace in March, which led to a trade surplus increase to EUR 22.3 billion in March from EUR 21.4 billion in the previous month. In contrast, Germany's construction sector continued to sharply deteriorate in Q2 due to ongoing weakness in demand.
France's trade deficit dropped to EUR 5.47 billion in March from EUR 5.61 billion in February. In the UK, house prices rose only slightly in April as increasing interest rate expectations weighed on the property market. However, the British construction sector advanced significantly in April, primarily due to growth in the commercial and civil engineering segments.
