European Stocks Close Higher On Earnings, Strong Chinese Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Tuesday with upbeat economic data from China, some stronger-than-expected earnings updates from U.S. companies, and a couple of acquisition news help underpinning sentiment.

China's gross domestic product was up 4.5% on year in the first quarter of 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. That beat expectations for an increase of 4% and was up from 2.9% in the three months prior.

On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, GDP gained 2.2% - matching forecasts following the flat reading in the previous quarter.

The bureau also said that industrial production was up 3.9% on year in March, missing expectations for 4% but still up from 2.4% in February.

Markets shrugged off data showing a drop in the ZEW economic sentiment index in the Euro area as well as Germany in the month of April.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.38%. Germany's DAX climbed 0.59%, France's CAC 40 surged 0.47%, hitting a record high, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.38% up, while Switzerland's SMI gained 0.42%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher.

Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Turkey closed weak, while Czech Republic, Norway and Portugal ended flat.

In the UK market, Entain soared 7.3% after reporting higher gaming revenues. Anglo American, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Fresenillo, Flutter Entertainment, Prudential, Johnson Matthey, Endeavour Mining and M&G gained 2 to 3.3%.

Glencore, Admiral Group, AstraZeneca, Antofagasta, Ocado Group, Beazley, IHG, Standard Chartered and Legal & General also posted strong gains.

Unite Group, GSK, Airtel Africa, B&M European Value Retail, Centrica, British Land and Compass Group lost 1 to 2.2%.

In Paris, Vivendi rallied more than 6%. Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Capgemini, Hermes International, AXA, Alstom, Publicis Groupe and Safran gained 1.3 to 2.1%.

Pernod Ricard and Sanofi lost about 1.3% and 1%, respectively.

In the German market, MTU Aero Engines, Commerzbank and Brenntag surged 2.8 to 3.6%. Covestro, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post, Munich RE, Mercedes-Benz, Infineon Technologies, Hannover Rueck and Allianz gained 1 to 2%.

Fresenius Medical Care, Siemens Energy, Merck, Qiagen, Sartorius and Porsche ended notably lower.

On the economic front, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for the Euro Area dropped by 3.6 points to 6.4 in April 2023, from a score of 10 in the prior month. The reading dropped for a second straight month after five consecutive months of increases, due to uncertainty about the outlook for inflation, growth and interest rates

Earlier, data showed the unemployment rate in the UK rose to 3.8% in February. Markets were expecting the same to be steady at 3.7%. The number of people claiming for unemployment benefits also increased by 28,200 in the month of March.