BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. shares rose on Tuesday amid some positive news on the Brexit trade deal talks, with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, saying there was some 'movement' over sticking points.
Meanwhile, a new variant of coronavirus has been identified by experts in England and could be the cause of a faster spread in the South East, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.
The benchmark FTSE 100 edged up 20 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,552 after declining 0.2 percent in the previous session.
In stock-specific action, AstraZeneca fell over 2 percent on worries about the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's $39bn acquisition of Alexion.
WPP rose over 1 percent. The world's biggest advertising company said it would restate its financial statements for 2017, 2018 and 2019 to comply with accounting rules.
IG Group Holdings rallied 2.5 percent. The online trading broker said that net trading revenues in the first half of the year will be around two thirds higher than last year.
In economic releases, the U.K. unemployment increased in three months to October and the employment rate declined as the pandemic weighed on job creation.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent in three months to October, the Office for National Statistics reported.
Economists had forecast the rate to climb to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent registered in three months to September.
The number of people looking for jobs increased by 241,000 from the previous quarter.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX