European Stocks Surging Higher On Earnings Optimism

(RTTNews) - European stocks are up in positive territory on Tuesday as strong economic data from China, and some upbeat earnings updates from top U.S. companies Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson help outweigh concerns about interest rates.

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.

Investors are shrugging 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 is up nearly 0.5%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 is advancing 0.2%, Germany's DAX is surging 0.61% and France's CAC 40 is climbing up 0.64%, while Switzerland's SMI is up 0.54%.

In the UK market, Polymetal International is surging more than 7.5%. Entain is climbing nearly 5%, while Fresenillo and Anglo American are rising 3.8% and 3.7%, respectively.

Antofagasta, Glencore, Barclays, Melrose Industries, Just Eat Takeaway.com, BHP Group and Burberry Group are gaining 1.5 to 2.3%.

EasyJet is gaining more than 2% on optimism about earnings.

TUI, Centrica, Compass Group and GlaxoSmithKline are notably lower.

In Paris, Societe Generale is up 2.7%. BNP Paribas, Capgemini, Kering, AXA, Carrefour, Hermes International, Renault, Legrand LVMH are gaining 1.5 to 2.3%.

In the German market, Deutsche Bank, MTU Aero Engines, Commerzbank and Covestro are advancing 2 to 2.7%.

Infineon Technologies is up nearly 2%, while Siemens Healthineers, Brenntag, Mercedes-Benz, Sartorius, Vonovia and Continental are gaining 1 to 1.5%.

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.