ROME: European stocks climbed Tuesday as stronger-than-expected trade data from Germany assuaged some concerns about slowing global growth.
Investors also appeared to see encouraging signs in mixed trade data from China, whose slowing economy has sparked recent turmoil in global markets.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +1.18% rose 1.2% to close at 359.00, scoring its biggest gain since Friday.
The best performance among the major national indexes came from Germany’s DAX 30 DAX, +1.61% as it tacked on 1.6% to finish at 10,271.36. The move came after Germany’s statistics office said the country’s trade surplus reached a record in July, thanks to a rise in exports.
The trade surplus in Europe’s largest economy rose to €22.8 billion euros ($25.6 billion) in July, outstripping forecasts of €22.3 billion in a survey of economists by The Wall Street Journal.
European stocks then held to gains after Eurostat upwardly revised the eurozone’s second-quarter gross domestic product reading to 1.5% from an initial estimate of 1.2%, aided by a pickup in exports.
On other indexes, France’s CAC 30 PX1, +1.07% gained 1.1% to 4,598.26. In Paris trade, Alstom SA ALO, +1.40% shares were up 1.4%, holding to gains after the European Union Tuesday afternoon approved General Electric Co.’s GE, +4.00% $17 billion acquisition of Alstom SA’s power business.
In London, the FTSE 100 UKX, +1.18% picked up 1.2% to 6,146.10.