European Markets Finished Mixed After U.S. Gains Provide Support

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Tuesday's session with mixed results, following the sharp losses of the previous 2 sessions. The Asian markets saw a broad selloff, tracking steep declines on Wall Street overnight. The European markets recovered from early weakness in the afternoon, following the positive open of the U.S. markets. Investors have become more risk-averse after yesterday's weaker-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data added to worries about the withdrawal of quantitative easing.

The German economy is set to expand at a faster pace this year than estimated earlier, supported mainly by the improving trend in external demand, the country's Chamber of Commerce (DIHK) said Tuesday. The agency expects gross domestic product to grow 2 percent this year, which has been revised up from the 1.7 percent growth forecast earlier.

Exports are expected to grow sharply by 4.5 percent in 2014, which marks a major improvement from last year's growth rate of 0.6 percent. But strong imports, projected to grow 5.5 percent, are seen offsetting the input from exports.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased by 0.03 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.24 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped by 0.64 percent and the FTSE 100 of the U.K. dipped by 0.25 percent. The CAC 40 of France climbed by 0.24 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland fell by 0.18 percent.

In Frankfurt, Munich Re declined by 0.98 percent. The insurer reported better than expected fourth quarter profit and lifted its dividend to 7.25 euros per share from 7.00 euros.

In Paris, Total decreased by 0.43 percent. The oil firm announced the sale of its 15 percent participating interest in the offshore Angola Block 15/06 to Sonangol E&P in a transaction valued at $750 million.

In London, BP gained 0.11 percent. The oil giant posted sharply lower profit for the fourth quarter, hurt by lower production and weaker refining margins.

ARM Holdings tumbled by 5.91 percent. The chipmaker announced it swung to a net loss of £6.2 million in the three months ended December, compared with a £42.5 million profit in the year-ago period, hurt mainly by an impairment charge.

BG Group climbed by 3.51 percent, even as the oil and gas explorer reported a loss for the fourth quarter compared to a profit last year, reflecting mainly impairment of certain assets in Egypt and shale gas business in the U.S.

J Sainsbury rose by 0.55 percent, after Bernstein upgraded it to "Outperform" from "Market Perform."

Premier Oil surged by 8.58 percent, after its CEO Simon Lockett announced his departure.

UBS advanced by 5.39 percent in Zurich, after the banking giant posted turnaround results for the fourth quarter and hiked its dividend for 2013.

Eurozone producer prices continued its downward trend in December, Eurostat reported Tuesday. Producer prices fell 0.8 percent in December from a year ago as expected by economists. Nonetheless, the pace of decline slowed from 1.2 percent fall seen in November and 1.3 percent drop in October.

German plant and machinery order intake declined in December as both domestic and foreign demand weakened at the end of the year, the industry group VDMA revealed Tuesday. Order intake fell 6 percent in December from last year, in contrast to the 7 percent growth registered in November. Domestic sales plunged 10 percent and foreign orders dipped 4 percent.

Unemployment in Spain increased in January from the previous month, a report from the Labor Ministry showed Tuesday. The number of people registered as unemployed in the country rose by 113,097 or 2.41 percent month-on-month to 4.81 million in January. This was the first increase since October last year.

The British construction sector expanded at the fastest pace in nearly six-and-half years in January as strong order growth boosted activity across all sectors, with residential building rising to a ten-year high.

Survey data released by Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) on Tuesday showed that the seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the construction sector climbed to 64.6 in January from 62.1 in December. Economists had forecast a decline to 61.5.

U.K. small and medium sized manufactures' plan to increase investment improved in the three months to January, survey results from the Confederation of British Industry showed Tuesday. According to the latest SME trends survey, business confidence fell to +21 in January from +35 in October. But optimism remained solid, it said.

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods showed a notable pullback in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, with the decrease largely due to a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment.

The report said factory orders fell by 1.5 percent in December following a revised 1.5 percent increase in November. Economists had expected orders to drop by about 1.8 percent compared to the 1.8 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.