BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European markets closed higher on Tuesday, as a drop in yields on U.S. Treasury Notes and Euro zone government bonds, faster momentum in vaccination campaign, some upbeat earnings announcements and an upward revision in global growth forecast by OECD lifted sentiment.
Investors were also looking ahead to the US House of Representatives' nod to President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that President Biden's coronavirus aid package would provide enough resources to fuel a 'very strong' U.S. economic recovery, and that 'there are tools' to address inflation if it becomes a problem.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.76% up. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.17%, Germany's DAX gained 0.4% to record a new closing high, France's CAC 40 climbed 0.37%, and Switzerland's SMI advanced 0.25%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed with sharp to moderate gains.
Austria and Czech Republic ended flat.
In the UK market, Avast, Scottish Mortgage, M&G, Kingfisher, Entain, Ashtead Group, Fresnillo, RightMove, JD Sports Fashion, Polymetal International, Bunzl, Burberry Group and Pershing Square Holdings gained 3 to 6%. Prudential, Just Eat Takeaway, Ferguson, Associated British Foods and AstraZeneca also rose sharply.
Standard Life plunged more than 7%, Anglo American slid 4.4% and Rio Tinto shed about 3.7%. Evraz, Glencore, BHP Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings also ended sharply lower.
In the French market, WorldLine, Engie, Cap Gemini, STMicroElectronics, Dassault Systemes, Publicis Groupe, Renault, Atos, Kering, Sanofi, LVMH, Vinci and Hermes International closed stronger by 1 to 3.3%.
Societe Generale, Credit Agricole, Unibail Rodamco, Safran, Saint Gobain, Michelin, Technip, BNP Paribas and Bouygues ended lower by 1 to 2.3%.
In the German market, Infineon Technologies, Merck, RWE, E.ON., SAP, Linde and Fresenius Medical Care gained 1 to 4%. Deutsche Post moved up sharply after reporting an increase in fourth-quarter net profit and raising mid-term targets.
Continental AG shares plunged sharply after the company reported a 15% drop in adjusted sales in 2020.
In economic releases, German exports growth unexpectedly accelerated in January, growing by 1.4% month-on-month, faster than the 0.4% rise in December, data from Destatis showed. Economists had forecast a decline of 1.2%.
Imports were down 4.7% in January, after staying flat in the previous month. Imports were expected to drop 0.5%.
Data out of the U.K. showed the country's retail sales returned to growth last month, prompted by the prime minister's roadmap to reopening announcement. Total retail sales grew 1% on a yearly basis in February while like-for-like sales advanced 9.5%, the British Retail Consortium said.
Due to weak consumer spending, the euro area economy shrank at a faster than initially estimated rate in the fourth quarter of 2020, revised data from Eurostat showed on Tuesday.
Gross domestic product declined 0.7% sequentially instead of 0.6% estimated on February 16. The fall reversed a record 12.5% rebound seen in the third quarter. On a yearly basis, GDP was down 4.9%, bigger than the 4.2% decline in the third quarter but slower than the 5% drop estimated on February 16.
In 2020, GDP was down 6.6% versus the prior estimate of -6.8% and +1.3% logged in 2019.
The OECD said in ts latest Interim Economic Outlook report that global economy is set to grow at a faster pace this year than projected earlier due to accelerated roll-out of vaccination against the coronavirus and a better outlook for the U.S. on the back of a huge stimulus boost.
The Paris-based think tank has raised the global GDP growth forecast for this year to 5.6% from 4.2% seen in December. The global economy is projected to expand 4% in 2022, which is faster than the 3.7% forecast in December.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX