By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets advanced on
Tuesday, with solid earnings results from UBS and PostNL, and
strong economic data lifting the investing mood.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.1% to 337.30, partly
recovering from a 0.3% loss on Monday.
Quarterly results were in the spotlight and helped push the
pan-European benchmark higher. Shares of UBS AG (UBS) gained 1%
after the Swiss bank reported first-quarter earnings ahead of
expectations and said profit rose to 1.1 billion Swiss francs
($1.25 billion), compared with 988 million francs reported a year
earlier.
Dutch mail and freight company PostNL NV rallied 11% after it
said it swung to a profit in the first quarter and lifted its 2014
guidance.
On a more downbeat note, shares of Barclays PLC (BCS) dropped
3.8%, after the U.K. bank posted a 5% fall in adjusted
first-quarter profit as fixed-income trading continued to slow.
The loss weighed on the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index , which dropped
0.2% to 6,810.14 on its first trading day of the week. U.K. markets
were closed on Monday for a bank holiday.
Germany's DAX 30 index advanced 0.1% on Tuesday, with gains
capped by a downbeat note from Credit Suisse. The investment bank
moved to a benchmark position on German stocks from overweight,
citing three reasons for the downgrade: Germany's growth premium
relative to Europe is shrinking; competitiveness and funding-cost
advantages are waning; and the country is exposed to Chinese risk,
with triple export-exposure compared with Europe.
At the same time, Credit Suisse lifted French stocks to
overweight from underweight in a bet on quantitative easing from
the European Central Bank. The CAC 40 index was up 0.1% at
4,466.91. Shares of Alstom SA weighed in Paris, down 1.1%, after
the French government urged General Electric Co. (GE) to alter the
terms of its proposed $17 billion takeover of Alstom's energy
assets.
Global equity strategist Andrew Garthwaite said France would
benefit more than Germany from any ECB easing. The central bank
meets on Thursday, but few economists expect the Governing Council
to loosen monetary policy after inflation in April rose from
March's four-year low.
In data news on Tuesday, the composite euro-zone purchasing
managers index for April rose to 54, unchanged from the flash
reading, signaling the fastest rate of economic growth in almost
three years. At 10 a.m. London time (5 a.m. Eastern Time),
euro-zone retail sales are due.
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