European Shares Advance Amid Reopening Optimism

European stocks advanced on Tuesday in light of easing of various pandemic-related restrictions.

Germany has decided to allow vaccinated travelers or people who have recovered from the virus to skip testing and quarantine.

The French government is moving forward with its plans to almost completely end coronavirus restrictions by June 30.

Britain’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell again, reinforcing market expectations that the economy will bounce back strongly, helped by its fast pace of vaccine rollout and plans to ease lockdown measures.

The pan European Stoxx 600 rose 0.4 percent to 443.85 after ending flat with a negative bias on Monday. The German DAX, France’s CAC 40 index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 were up between 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent.

Switzerland-based hearing aids maker Sonova Holding jumped 9 percent. The company expects strong growth in 2021, thanks to a market recovery after the coronavirus pandemic.

Italy’s top insurer Generali gained 1.2 percent after its Q1 profit beat expectations.

German leasing business Grenke jumped more than 17 percent. The company announced it has received unqualified audit opinion for the annual and consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2020.

French utility Engie surged 4.2 percent after backing its 2021 financial guidance and reaffirming its dividend policy.

Bouygues shares fell 1.3 percent. Groupe TF1, Groupe M6, Groupe Bouygues and RTL Group said that they have signed agreements to enter into exclusive negotiations to merge the activities of Groupe TF1 and Groupe M6 and create a major French media group.

Commodity-related stocks were moving higher in London, with miners Anglo American and Glencore both rising about 2 percent. Oil firm BP Plc added 1.8 percent and Royal Dutch Shell was up 1.3 percent.

Vodafone slumped 6.5 percent after the mobile operator missed market expectations with a 1.2 percent in full-year adjusted earnings.

Soft drinks maker Britvic rallied 3.3 percent. The company reinstated its dividend, despite reporting a decline in first-half profit and revenue.

Software company Micro Focus jumped 4.7 percent. The company said its first-half performance was set to be ahead of market views.

Real estate investment trust Land Securities fell about 1 percent after reporting a wider loss for full year.

Tobacco company Imperial Brands advanced 1.4 percent after it reported a modest rise in first-half revenue and backed annual outlook.

In economic releases, the euro zone economy shrank by 0.6 percent sequentially in the three months to March of 2021, the second estimate showed – matching expectations. Year-on-year, the bloc’s GDP dropped by 1.8 percent in the first quarter.

Separately, the region’s employment fell by 0.3 percent and 2.1 percent on sequential and annual basis, respectively in the first quarter of 2021.

Britain’s unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked lower in the first quarter despite the national lockdown, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

The jobless rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 4.8 percent in the first quarter. This was also below economists’ forecast of 4.9 percent.

At the same time, the employment rate was estimated at 75.2 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter.