European stocks closed higher on Tuesday, extending gains from previous session, as bond yields dropped yet again. Optimism about growth and expectations of additional stimulus continued to aid sentiment.
The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury Note, which rose to around 1.6% last week, has dropped down to 1.4%.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.19% up. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.38%, Germany's DAX moved up 0.19% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.29%, while Switzerland's SMI climbed 1.03%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Turkey closed higher, while Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain ended weak.
In the UK market, Pershing Square Holdings ended stronger by 3.8% and Standard Chartered surged up 2.7%, while Admiral Group, St. James Place, Aveva Group, Johnson Matthey, Rio Tinto, Prudential and Anglo American gained 2 to 2.5%. BHP, Reckitt Benckiser, Evraz and Compass Group also ended notably higher.
On the other hand, JD Sports Fashion, British Land, Barratt Developments, Intertek Group, Whitbread, AstraZeneca and IAG ended lower by 1 to 3%. Taylor Wimpey failed to hold early gains and ended marginally down. The company said its 2020 pretax profit fell 68% in line with expectations.
In Germany, Daimler, Allianz, Munich RE, Covestro, BASF, HeidelbergCement and Beiersdorf gained 1 to 2.5%, while RWE, Infineon Technologies, Adidas, Continental and Meck settled notably lower.
In the French market, Technip and ArcelorMittal both ended more than 3% up. BNP Paribas, Vivendi, Michelin, Kering, Credit Agricole, Schneider Electric, Teleperformance and AXA gained 1 to 2.6%.
STMicroElectronics, Unibail Rodamco, Danone, Engie and Airbus Group ended notably lower.
In economic releases, Eurozone consumer price inflation was stable in February, while core price growth slowed, flash figures from Eurostat showed.
The consumer price index rose 0.9% year-on-year, same as in January, and in line with economists' expectations. Inflation was in positive territory for a second straight month.
Core inflation, which excludes prices of energy, food, alcohol & tobacco, eased to 1.1% from 1.4% in January. This also matched economists' expectations.
German retail sales decreased for a second straight month and at a faster than expected pace in January, preliminary figures from Destatis showed.
Retail sales fell 4.5% month-on-month, which was worse than the 0.3% decline economists had expected. In December, sales decreased 9.1%.
Germany's unemployment rose in February, defying expectations for a decline, mainly due to the return of lockdown measures to battle the coronavirus pandemic that has severely hurt economic activity.
The number of unemployed grew by a seasonally adjusted 9,000 persons from January to 2.752 million, latest data from the Federal Labor Agency showed. Economists had forecast a decline of 13,000. In January, the figure dropped by 37,000 persons.
U.K. house price inflation accelerated in February, defying expectations for further slowing, survey data from the Nationwide Building Society showed.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com