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BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (Alliance News) - The European markets ended Tuesday's session solidly in positive territory, bouncing back from the weak performance at the start of the trading week.
Bank and mining stocks lead the way higher after China revealed plans to stimulate economic growth.
China's government plans to adopt both fiscal and financial measures to underpin domestic demand as worsening trade relations with its major trading partner, the US, limited the impetus to growth from exports.
The State Council meeting, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang late Monday, decided to take more "proactive" fiscal steps to help the economy grow in a reasonable pace amid external uncertainties, but to avoid a strong stimulus.
Proactive fiscal measures will cover deeper tax cuts, additional deductions to companies on research and development expenditure and issuing special bonds to local government to fund infrastructure projects.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.9%. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.9%, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major UK companies, added 0.9%.
The DAX of Germany climbed 1.1% and the CAC of France rose 1.0%. The FTSE 100 of the UK gained 0.7% and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.5%.
In Paris, Edenred jumped 10%. The prepaid meal voucher and card provider group forecast higher annual profits after delivering strong growth in the first half of the year.
Peugeot surged 15% after its profit for the first half of the year surpassed expectations.
In London, real estate firm Hammerson rose 0.7% after launching a share buyback program.
BT Group gained 1.2%. The telecom firm said that the creation of a more independent Openreach is nearing completion.
UBS climbed 4.3% in Zurich. The Swiss bank reported a 9% rise in second-quarter profit and said rising interest rates in the US will further support its global wealth management unit.
Eurozone private sector activity growth weakened in July, flash survey results from IHS Markit revealed Tuesday. The composite output index dropped to 54.3 in July from 54.9 in June. The score was expected to fall slightly to 54.8.
Germany's private sector activity expanded at the fastest pace in five months in July driven by a stronger increase in manufacturing output, flash data from IHS Markit showed Tuesday. The composite output index climbed to 55.2 from 54.8 in June. The score was expected to remain at 54.8. The pace of expansion was the fastest since February.
France's private sector expanded at a slower pace in July, flash data from IHS Markit showed Tuesday. The composite output index dropped to 54.5 from 55.0 in June. The score was forecast to fall slightly to 54.9 but it remained above the neutral 50.0 mark for a twenty-fifth month in a row.
France's manufacturing confidence weakened for the second straight month in July, though slightly, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed Tuesday. The manufacturing confidence dropped to 108.0 in July from 109.0 in June, which was revised down from 110. Meanwhile, the index was expected to remain stable at 110.0.
