FRANKFURT: European stock markets finished firmly higher on Tuesday as a round of upbeat earnings reports and a solid rebound in oil prices helped lift the region’s benchmarks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +1.46% jumped 1.5% to end at 349.24, leaving the pan-European benchmark at its highest closing level since early January.
Oil prices continued to recover on Tuesday, with both crude and Brent LCOM6, -1.68% logging gains of roughly 3%. The moves helped spur a rise for European energy stocks.
Shares of Subsea 7 SA SUBC, +5.98% added 6%, Tullow Oil PLC TLW, +5.02% gained 5% and Statoil ASA STL, +3.48% climbed 3.5%.
European markets were also buoyed by gains in the U.S., where the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.27% was building on its gains after closing above 18,000 for the first time in nine months on Monday.
“Global stocks continue to track the resurgent crude market higher, as one of the unlikeliest of rallies continues to prove it has legs,” said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, in a note. “The ability of markets to disregard the continued supply glut speaks volumes about the fact that when markets are in the mood, fundamentals take the back seat to pure emotion and sentiment.”
On Monday, the Stoxx Europe 600 ended higher following a choppy session in which traders digested a failed round of oil talks in Doha, Qatar. Crude oil prices CLK6, -2.31% recovered from a more than 6% loss at one point to settle with a 1.4% decline on Monday.
Other movers: Shares of L’Oréal SA OR, +5.02% were among the top performers on Tuesday, jumping 5%. The gain came after the French cosmetics giant said like-for-like sales grew 4.2% in the first quarter.
Roche Holding AG ROG, +1.96% put on 2% after the Swiss drugmaker reported an increase in first-quarter revenue following strong sales of its cancer and immunology drugs.
But Zalando SE ZAL, -2.15% erased 2.3% after the German online retailer posted revenue below expectations in the first quarter.
Indexes: The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index UKX, +0.82% rose 0.8% to end at 6,405.35, while France’s CAC 40 index PX1, +1.32% added 1.3% to 4,566.48.
Germany’s DAX 30 index DAX, +2.27% rallied 2.3% to 10,349.59, after ZEW data showed investor sentiment in the country picked up in April.
Chart watchers noted the DAX regained its 200-day moving average, a key level, for the first time since early December.
The ZEW expectations index rose to 11.2 points from 4.3 points in March, but stayed below its long-term average of 24.5 points. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a smaller increase, to 9.0 points.
In other economic data news, a European Central Bank survey showed Tuesday that some of the central bank’s most ambitious policies are having a positive impact on bank lending in the currency bloc, though they are hurting banks’ profitability.
