European Stocks Extend Gains To 3rd Straight Day

European stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday, extending gains to a third straight session, with investors focusing on earnings updates and looking ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement, due later in the week.

Stocks turned in a somewhat sluggish performance earlier in the day, reacting to reports of a spending slowdown at tech giant Apple and a mixed earnings update from IBM, as well as on worries about rate hikes after data showed a an acceleration in eurozone inflation and stronger than expected jobs growth in the U.K.

However, a rally on Wall Street thanks to strong corporate earnings, and rising hopes the Fed will less aggressive with its policy stance at its upcoming meeting later this month, helped lift sentiment as the day progressed.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 1.38%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 1.01%. Germany's DAX surged 2.69%, France's CAC 40 climbed 1.79%, while Switzerland's SMI gained 1.02%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed with strong gains.

Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland and Portugal ended modestly higher. Russia closed weak, while Czech Republic and Denmark closed flat.

In the UK market, Informa gained nearly 6%. Burberry Group, JD Sports Fashion, B&M European Value Retail, Harbour Journey, Natwest Group, Standard Chartered, Smurfit Kappa Group, Lloyds Banking Group and Associated British Foods advanced 3 to 4.5%.

WPP, M&G, CRH, Land Securities, Smith (DS), Airtel Africa, DCC and ABRDN were among the other major gainers.

Ocado Group drifted down 3.2%. Haleon and Aveva Group ended lower by 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively.

In the German market, Adidas climbed more than 6%. Covestro, BASF, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Bayer, E.ON, HeidelbergCement and Volkswagen gained 4 to 5.4%.

RWE, Daimler, Merck, BMW, Infineon Technologies, Zalando, Vonovia, Deutsche Post, MTU Aero Engines, Brenntag, Siemens Healthineers, Porsche Automobil and HelloFresh also rose sharply.

In France, Faurecia surged 5.7%. Publicis Groupe, Renault, Societe Generale, Valeo, Engie, ArcelorMittal, Accor, BNP Paribas, Veolia, Kering, Hermes International, Essilor, Vinci, Credit Agricole, Schneider Electric and Sodexo gained 2.5 to 4.7%.

EDF shares soared nearly 15% after the French government offered 12 euros per share to take full control of the company in a 9.7 billion-euros (US$9.85 billion) buyout offer to nationalize Europe's biggest nuclear power operator.

The offer price represented a premium of 53%, to the closing price of EDF shares on July 5, the day before Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced the nationalization.

Alstom ended lower by about 2.5%. The train maker warned of challenges from inflation and the shortage in electronic components after reporting an 8% increase in first-quarter sales. The train maker warned of challenges from inflation and the shortage in electronic components after reporting an 8 percent increase in first-quarter sales.

Norwegian telecommunications provider Telenor ASA slumped more than 3% as it reported a second quarter net loss attributable to equity holders of 1.11 billion Norwegian Kroner compared to profit of 2.19 billion Kroner last year.

Eurostat data showed that the region's inflation accelerated as estimated in June to set a fresh record high, driven by higher energy and food prices. Headline consumer price inflation surged to 8.6% from 8.1% in May.

In the U.K., the ILO unemployment rate came in at 3.8% in three months to May, unchanged from three months to April but down by 0.1 percentage points on the quarter. The rate was forecast to rise to 3.9%.

Switzerland's trade surplus decreased in the second quarter, as imports rose and exports fell, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed.

Exports fell 0.5% sequentially in the June quarter, reversing a 1.5% rebound in the March quarter. Meanwhile, imports logged 0.6% growth in the second quarter, after a 1.1% gain in the previous quarter.

The trade surplus shrank to CHF 7.612 billion in the June quarter from CHF 8.376 billion in the previous three-month period.

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