BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks rose sharply on Tuesday as oil prices stabilized and upbeat data from China raised hopes of an economic recovery following the coronavirus outbreak.
Investors also cheered the latest grocery market share data from research bureau Kantar showing that year-on-year supermarket sales grew by the fastest rate in over a decade during the past 12 weeks.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 105 points, or 1.89 percent, at 5,668 after gaining 1 percent in the previous session.
WPP Group shares soared nearly 9 percent. The advertising group suspended dividend and withdrew its guidance for the fiscal year 2020.
Imperial Brands jumped as much as 12.5 percent. The tobacco company said there has been no material impact on Group performance from COVID-19 to date and current trading remains in-line with expectations.
Royal Dutch Shell gained 5.5 percent as it pulled out of an LNG natural gas project in Louisiana in an attempt to get more control over its costs.
Medical devices company Smiths Group rose 5 percent. The company, currently at the forefront of the U.K. response to the Covid-19 crisis in its production of ventilators the government, announced it was delaying the separation of its medical device's unit, until the crisis has passed.
Generic pharmaceutical company Hikma Pharmaceuticals surged 4.4 percent after announcing favorable U.S. ruling in Generic Vascepa.
In economic releases, the U.K. economy logged flat growth in the fourth quarter, as initially estimated, as growth in services was offset by production and construction output, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.
Gross domestic product remained unchanged sequentially, as estimated, after expanding 0.5 percent in the third quarter.
The services sector provided a positive contribution to growth; however, this was offset by a negative contribution from the production sector.
On a yearly basis, the economy expanded 1.1 percent, unrevised from the first estimate.
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