European Shares Rise On Growth Optimism

European stocks advanced on Tuesday as investors looked past the region’s slow pace of vaccinations to focus on signs of a robust U.S. economic recovery.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.7 percent at 435.39 after climbing as much as 1 percent to a record high earlier in the day.

The German DAX jumped 0.9 percent, France’s CAC 40 index rose 0.6 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 1.1 percent.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore rose 3-4 percent on optimism for a swift economic recovery.

BP Plc climbed 3.1 percent and Royal Dutch Shell added 1.1 percent as oil prices rebounded on dollar weakness.

Banks and automakers were also broadly higher on economic recovery hopes.

Airline easyJet was little changed and Ryanair lost about 1 percent after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned against booking foreign summer holidays.

Oxford Biomedica, a gene and cell therapy group, rallied 2.2 percent after it signed a new three year Development & Supply Agreement with German Pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim for the manufacture and supply of various types of viral vectors.

Credit Suisse Group shares gained 0.7 percent. The Swiss lender today announced the departure of two top executives and said it expects a one-time charge of 4.4 billion franc ($4.7 billion) writedown tied to the implosion of Archegos Capital Management.

Suez SA shares were little changed. The waste and water utility fighting the takeover ambitions of rival Veolia Environnement SA, has reached an agreement to sell its Australian business to Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd.

In economic releases, Eurozone investor confidence reached its strongest level in more than two years in April as lockdowns in many euro area countries had little effect on the overall economic recovery, survey data from Sentix showed.

The investor confidence index rose sharply to 13.1 in April from 5.0 in March. This was the highest level since August 2018 and well above economists’ forecast of 7.5.

Although the Eurozone economy recently lagged significantly behind the global trend, it started to catch up in April, the survey revealed.

New car registrations in the U.K. climbed 12 percent annually in March, the first month of growth since August, an industry body said – adding to investor optimism about the economic recovery.

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