LONDON – European stocks rose on Tuesday as global markets try to build on the positive momentum seen at the start of the new trading week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 1.2% at the start of trading, with travel and entertainment stocks up 2.1% to make a profit as almost all sectors and major exchanges entered positive territory.
The positive start forecast for the markets in the region comes after European stocks struggled to gain positive momentum on Monday and recover from last week’s volatility.
Market sentiment appears to be improving in the Asia-Pacific region, where shares were higher in trading on Tuesday, as Hong Kong shares led to gains in the region. However, US stock futures remained unchanged during overnight trading on Monday, after an unstable session in which the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite continued to fall.
The war in Ukraine remains a key focus for market sentiment in Europe, with fighting raging in the east and southeast. On Monday, news emerged that more than 260 Ukrainian fighters, including some seriously wounded, had been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant – the last stronghold for Ukrainian forces in the ruined city of Mariupol – and taken to Russian-controlled areas, the Ukrainian military said.
As Finland and Sweden announce their bids to join NATO’s Western military alliance, all eyes are on Russia and how it can react. Moscow has already expressed outrage at the idea of expanding its old enemy, NATO, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that NATO enlargement was “a problem”. While Russia has promised retaliation, it is uncertain how it will act.
In terms of data, unemployment in the UK fell to its lowest level since 1974 in the first quarter, official figures revealed on Tuesday, but rising inflation pushed wages down.
The second estimate of the eurozone’s growth rate for the first quarter was also made on Tuesday morning.
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In terms of individual stock price movements, Clariant rose more than 7% to lead the Stoxx 600 after the Swiss chemical company announced that its deferred earnings report for the full year would be published on May 19 and that it would terminated the management agreement with the largest shareholder Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).
At the bottom of the European blue chip index, the Swedish investment company Storskogen Group sank more than 13% after its first quarter results.
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