Major European Markets Close Higher

(RTTNews) - Major European markets closed higher on Tuesday with investors picking up stocks amid hopes several central banks will likely lower interest rates sooner than later. Concerns about geopolitical tensions limited markets' upside a bit.

Investors awaited key European and U.S. inflation readings for directional cues.

Geopolitical tensions also remained in focus after Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time that "radical Islamists" were responsible for last week's attack on a concert hall outside Moscow and that Ukraine was also somehow involved.

"We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries", Putin said in a televised meeting.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.24%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.17% up, Germany's DAX climbed 0.67% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.41%. Switzerland's SMI settled 0.37% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended higher.

Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Turkiye closed weak, while Austria, Belgium, Finland, Norway and Russia ended flat.

Kingfisher, Marks & Spencer, JD Sports Fashion, Standard Chartered, DS Smith, Easyjet, Howden Joinery and Mondi, gaining 2 to 4%, were among the top performers in the UK market.

Ocado Group shares climbed 2.75% after the company reported strong Q1 performance with 10.6% revenue growth year-on-year. Smiths Group shares gained about 2% after the company launched a £100m share buyback after posting strong half-year earnings results.

IHG, J Sainsbury, Airtel Africa, Phoenix Holdings, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Frasers Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Reckitt Benckiser, Burberry and Accociated British Foods also posted strong gains.

Auto Traders Group ended more than 4% down. Beazley, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, Experian, M&G, Croda International, Prudential, St. James's Place and BP lost 1 to 2.3%.

In the German market, Puma, Vonovia, Infineon, E.ON, Volkswagen, Munich RE, Bayer, SAP, HeidelbergCement, Deutsche POst, Deutsche Boerse and Hannover Rueck advanced 1 to 2.3%.

Qiagen is down by about 2%. Covestro, Symrise and Siemens Energy also ended notably lower.

In Paris, Kering, Alstom, BNP Paribas, Renault, Vinci, Sanofi, Pernod Ricard, Unibail Rodamco, Safran, Credit Agricole, WorldLine, Eurofins Scientific, Saint Gobain, Edenred and Danone gained 1 to 3.3%.

In economic releases, a survey showed German consumer confidence is set to improve in April. The forward-looking consumer confidence index rose to -27.4 in April from revised -28.8 in March, according to a survey conducted by the market research group GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).

Elsewhere, Spain's economic growth improved at the end of the year, as initially estimated, final data from the statistical office INE showed.

Gross domestic product grew 0.6% from the third quarter, when output was up 0.4%. The rate came in line with the estimate published on January 30.

On a yearly basis, economic growth improved to 2%, as estimated, from 1.9% in the preceding period.