European Stocks Close On Firm Note On Growth Optimism

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Tuesday and several markets climbed to fresh record highs, as a string of new studies suggested that the Omicron virus variant might be less severe than initially feared. Strong economic data from Germany and the U.K. also aided sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 surged up 0.82%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 1.63%, Germany's DAX gained 0.82% and France's CAC ended 1.39% up, while Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.3%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed with sharp to moderate gains.

Iceland, Netherlands and Norway edged up marginally, while Denmark closed weak.

In the UK market, IAG soared 11.25%. BP climbed 6.2%. IHG, Barclays Group, HSBC Holdings, Melrose Industries, Informa, Royal Dutch Shell, M&G, Whitbread, Aviva, Lloyds Banking Group and Natwest Group gained 4 to 5.2%.

3i Group, Coca-Cola, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Glencore, Royal Mail and Standard Chartered gained 3.2 to 3.75%.

Wizz Air Holdings soared 12.3%. The low-cost airline reported that it carried 2.64 million passengers in the month of December 2021, up 296.3% from 665,722 passengers a year ago.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals tumbled more than 8%. Ocado Group declined 7.2%. Fresnillo, Segro, Scottish Mortgage, Rentokil Initial, Aveva Group, Astrazeneca, Admiral Group, Polymetal International and Croda International lost 2 to 4.5%.

In the French market, Air France-KLM rallied more than 8%, Societe Generale gained 5.3% and Accor climbed 4.1%. BNP Paribas, Sodexo, Unibail Rodamco, Danone, Bouygues, Renault, Valeo, Credit Agricole, Pernod Ricard, Airbus Group and Vinci gained 2 to 3.6%. STMicroElectronics and Sanofi declined sharply.

In Germany, BASF, Volkswagen, BMW, Deutsche Bank, Allianz and Daimler gained 2.5 to 4.2%. Covestro, Bayer, Fresenius, Munich RE, Deutsche Post, MTU Aero Engines and Porsche Automobil also ended with strong gains.

HelloFresh tumbled nearly 9%. Infineon Technologies ended 2.2% down, while Zalando, Qiagen, Symrise and Sartorius shed 1 to 2%.

In economic news, Germany's retail sales rose for a second straight month in November, defying expectations for a decline, preliminary data from Destatis showed.

Retail sales increased a calendar and seasonally adjusted 0.6% from the previous month. Economists had forecast a 0.5% fall. In October, sales grew a revised 0.5%.

Germany's unemployment rate dropped marginally in November, data published by Destatis showed. The jobless rate dropped marginally to 3.2% from 3.3 percent in October, according to the calculations based on the labor force survey. In November 2020, the rate stood at 4.1 percent.

On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate came in at 3% versus 3.8% in the same period last year.

France's consumer price inflation was stable in December with prices rising at a slower pace from the previous month, preliminary data from the statistical office INSEE showed. The flash consumer price index rose 2.8% year-on-year, same as in the previous month. That was in line with economists' expectations.

The UK manufacturing sector upturn continued in December, expanding for the 19th consecutive month, with further growth of production, new orders and employment, final data from IHS Markit showed on Tuesday.

The IHS Markit/the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 57.9 in December, little changed from November's three-month high of 58.1. The flash score was 57.6.

Separate data from the British Retail Consortium showed that U.K. shop prices grew at a faster pace in December.

Shop prices climbed 0.8% on a yearly basis in December, following a 0.3% gain in November, which was the first rise in two-and-a-half years.