European Shares Advance As Ukraine Peace Talks Begin

European stocks were moving higher for a third day running on Tuesday amid hopes for Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

Negotiators began face-to-face talks in Istanbul today after Ukraine said it is willing to become neutral and compromise over the status of the eastern Donbas region as part of a peace deal.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.4 percent to 460.68 after closing 0.1 percent higher the previous day.

The German DAX jumped 1.8 percent, France’s CAC 40 index rallied 2.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 1.3 percent.

Sweden’s Alfa Laval jumped 3.5 percent after it won its largest order ever to supply brewery systems to Golden Brewery, the largest brewery in the United States.

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk rallied 2.3 percent. The U.S. FDA has approved a higher dosage of the drugmaker’s 2 mg of Ozempic for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes.

AstraZeneca advanced 1.4 percent after the European Commission granted marketing authorization to Evusheld, a Covid-19 vaccine alternative.

Bellway fell 2.4 percent. After reporting increases in revenue and profit, the housebuilder has warned over potentially significant costs on building safety.

Mulberry Group shares surged 4.2 percent. After a solid trading update for the second half, the luxury handbag maker said that full-year profit and revenue were set to be “moderately ahead” of expectations.

French healthcare group Sanofi gained about 1 percent after raising its peak sales target for eczema-treatment product Dupixent to more than 13 billion euros ($14.3 billion).

Investors shrugged off results of a closely-watched survey showing that Germany’s consumer confidence is set to weaken more than expected in April, hurt significantly by the war in Ukraine.

The forward-looking consumer confidence index dropped to -15.5 from a revised -8.5 in March, the market research growth GfK said. Economists had expected a reading of -14.

Separate data from Destatis showed that Germany’s import price inflation moderated slightly in February but remained at an elevated level.

Import prices grew 26.3 percent on a yearly basis in February, slower than the 26.9 percent increase in January. The rate was forecast to remain stable at 26.9 percent, which was the strongest since October 1974.