European Markets Climb On Solid Private Sector Data

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Tuesday's session in the green, bouncing back from the weak performance of the previous session. Traders were encouraged by flash PMI data, which indicated that the euro area remained on a steady growth path in the third quarter, with no signs of the recovery being derailed by Brexit uncertainty.

Mining stocks were among the gainers today, rebounding from Monday's weak performance. Bank stocks and automakers also turned in a solid performance. However, energy stocks struggled as crude oil prices continue to retreat.

Hungary's central bank held key interest rates steady for a third month running, amid low inflationary pressures in the economy and as policymakers plan to use more unconventional tools going forward.

The Monetary Council of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank on Tuesday held the base rate steady at 0.90 percent, in line with economists' expectations. Turkey's central bank trimmed its key lending rate further by a quarter point, while maintaining the repo and borrowing rates on Tuesday.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Turkish central bank lowered the Marginal Funding Rate by 25 basis points to 8.50 percent. This was the sixth consecutive reduction in rate.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced by 0.96 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip stocks increased 1.13 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.81 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.94 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.72 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.59 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.54 percent.

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank increased 3.55 percent and Commerzbank gained 2.84 percent.

Volkswagen advanced 2.42 percent. BMW climbed 0.69 percent and Daimler added 0.73 percent.

In Paris, Schneider Electric rose 1.56 percent on a Bloomberg report that it is weighing a sale of DTN, agriculture news and data service that could be worth as much as $1.5 billion.

Societe Generale increased 2.84 percent and BNP Paribas added 2.07 percent. Credit Agricole also finished higher by 2.07 percent.

In London, homebuilder Persimmon jumped 4.24 percent after reporting a 29 percent jump in first-half profits. Rival Berkeley Group Holdings gained 3.88 percent and Taylor Wimpey advanced 4.03 percent.

Tesco increased 4.26 percent after data from Kanter Worldpanel showed the grocer's revenue fell by less than any of its main competitors in the 12 weeks to Aug. 14.

BHP Billiton climbed 4.40 percent, after Jefferies upgraded its rating on the miner to "Buy" from "Hold."

Medical device manufacturer Straumann Holding rose 1.44 percent in Zurich after reporting better-than-expected first-half results and raising its full-year revenue guidance for a second time this year.

UniCredit jumped 6.63 percent in Milan on a Reuters report that Poland's largest insurer PZU is preparing a bid to buy its Polish unit and Poland's second-largest bank, Bank Pekao SA.

Eurozone private sector expanded at the fastest pace in seven months in August, mirroring no major signs of "Brexit" impact in the region.

The composite output index rose unexpectedly to 53.3 in August from 53.2 in July, flash results from Markit's Purchasing Managers' survey showed Tuesday. The reading was forecast to drop slightly to 53.1.

Germany's private sector expanded further in August but the pace of growth weakened from July, survey results from Markit showed Tuesday. The flash composite output index dropped to 54.4 from 55.3 in July.

The French private sector expanded at the sharpest pace in ten months in August, flash survey data from Markit showed Tuesday. The composite output index rose to 51.6 in August from 50.1 in July.

The U.K. export order books reached a 2-year high as the depreciation of sterling boosted overseas demand, the Industrial Trends Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Tuesday.

Despite an improvement in exports, the order books balance fell to -5 percent in August compared to the expected score of -10 percent.

At the same time, the export order balance came in at -6 percent, the highest since August 2014.

New home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a substantial increase in the month of July, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday. The report said new home sales jumped 12.4 percent to an annual rate of 654,000 in July from the revised June rate of 582,000.

The sharp increase in new home sales came as a surprise to economists, who had expected new home sales to drop to a rate of 580,000 from the 592,000 originally reported for the previous month.