Stocks across Europe advanced Tuesday, with bank and commodity shares among those guiding the market’s benchmark toward a third consecutive win.
The Stoxx Europe 600 added 1% to 338.19, with all sectors moving higher. Monday’s volatile session ended flat.
Energy and basic material shares found support from a softer U.S. dollar, which tends to help prices for metals and oil for holders of other currencies. Oil prices moved closer to $50 a barrel, after gaining on Monday as Goldman Sachs said the global oil market likely shifted into a deficit in May.
Movers: In the energy group, shares in Italy’s ENI SpA rose 1.7% and those in France’s Total SA gained 1.3%.
Among financials, Greece’s Alpha Bank popped up 4.1%. That followed a ratings upgrade to buy from neutral at UBS. The stock is trading “at no premium to its peers, despite, in our view, higher operational efficiency and superior profitability, and for Alpha “a premium is justified,” said UBS analysts Mate Nemes and Margarita Streltses in a note.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund wants the eurozone to let debt-burdened Greece skip paying interest or principal on bailout loans until 2040, officials familiar with the talks told The Wall Street Journal.
Greece’s Athex Composite tacked on 1.1% to 627.41, with shares of Eurobank Ergasias SA up 3.9%
Indexes: U.K’s FTSE 100 gained 0.9% to 6,206.16, with Taylor Wimpey PLC shares up 6% as the home builder raised its dividend payout policy.
Germany’s DAX 30 moved 1% higher to 10,043.02. Trading was closed yesterday for the Whit Monday holiday.
France’s CAC 40 rose 1% to 4,355.04, and Italy’s FTSE MIB added 1.3% to 19,974.12 as bank shares gained. Spain’s IBEX 35 claimed a 1.4% rise to 8,800.00.
The euro was up 0.1% at $1.325.
Source: MarketWatch
