Europe open: Shares jump despite confusion over Iran, Lebanon

(Sharecast News) - European shares made a strong start on Tuesday despite continuing uncertainty about the US-Iran ceasefire, Israel's attacks on Lebanon and a heavy Russian bombardment on Ukraine overnight.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.69% to 625.54 at 0823 BST with all major bourses higher.

US President Donald Trump said Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia based in Lebanon had agreed to stop fighting each other, despite the fact that both sides were still firing and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would attack Beirut.

Meanwhile, peace talks with Iran continued to drag on as Tehran insisted Lebanon be tied into any final agreement. Brent crude oil prices held at around $94 a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz remained closed to most traffic.

Oil hit $95 on Monday after Iran suspended peace talks due to Israeli pushing further into Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones at Ukraine according to the Ukrainian air force, hitting major centres including Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv, killing at least 11 people.

On the economics front, investors are also looking at flash inflation data for the eurozone later in the morning for signs of how much the Iran war has hit prices.

In equity news, shares in Prosus jumped as the EU this week gave the Amsterdam-listed technology investor more time to comply with a requirement to reduce its shareholding in Delivery Hero in order to get approval for its acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.

However, Prosus is considering using this waiver to temporarily increase its stake, either to block Uber's potential takeover or to give itself a better bargaining position, the Financial Times newspaper reported.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com