Major European Markets Close Higher As Focus Shifts To Earnings, Fed Policy Meet

Despite worries about surging coronavirus cases, delay in vaccine supplies, political uncertainty in Italy and rising U.S.-China tensions, European stocks moved higher on Tuesday.

Investors were focusing on earnings news and the upcoming monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.63%. Germany’s DAX surged up 1.66%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.93% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended 0.23% up, while Switzerland’s SMI gained 0.35%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine ended with sharp to moderate gains.

Netherlands edged up marginally, while Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Portugal and Russia closed weak.

In the German markets, SAP, Linde, Adidas, Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler, Covestro, Thyssenkrupp, Lufthansa, Continental, Fresenius, Deutsche Bank and Siemens gained 1.5 to 4.2%. Infineon Technologies and RWE ended notably lower.

In France, Unibail Rodamco and Air France-KLM both ended stronger by over 4%. Renault, Atos, Air Liquide, Kering, Societe Generale, ArcelorMittal, Sodexo, Valeo, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Orange and Safran gained 1.5 to 3.2%.

In the UK market, Pearson surged up more than 6%. Compass Group gained 4.5% and Johnson Matthey ended nearly 4% up, while ICP, Informa, British Land Company, Aveva Group, Burberry Group, 3i Group, Aviva, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and Standard Life moved up 1.6 to 3.2%.

M&G, Just Eat Takeaway, Whitbread, Reckitt Benckiser and Bunzl lost 2 to 4%. Rolls Royce recovered after a sharp fall, but still ended the session with a loss of about 1.7%. The stock tumbled after the company warned of significant uncertainty over the “precise shape and timing of the recovery in air traffic”.

JD Sports Fashion declined nearly 4% after the company announced that it is exploring additional funding options with a view to increasing its flexibility to invest in future strategic opportunities and that this may involve a non-pre-emptive equity placing.

Swiss lender UBS shares rose sharply after the bank reported a surge in quarterly net profit and said it plans to buy back as much as 4 billion francs ($4.5 billion) of shares over the next three years.

Swedish buyout group EQT AB soared 14.5% after it agreed to take over global real estate investment manager Exeter Property Group.

In economic news, the U.K. unemployment rate increased and the employment rate continued to decline in three months to November, labor force survey results from the Office for National Statistics showed.

The jobless rate rose 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter to 5% in three months to November. The expected rate was 5.1%. At the same time, the employment rate dropped 0.4 percentage points sequentially to 75.2%. Employment decreased by 88,000 on the quarter.

Survey results from the Confederation of British Industry showed UK retailers posted the weakest sales since May 2020 amid lockdown restrictions.