European Shares Inch Higher In Lackluster Trade

(RTTNews) - European shares inched higher on Tuesday as investors watched the latest developments on the trade front and reacted to widely expected rate cuts in China to stimulate consumption and loan growth.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.4 percent to 552.03 after gaining 0.1 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX inched up 0.1 percent, France's CAC 40 added 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced half a percent.

British engineering firm Senior Plc rose nearly 2 percent after securing two new contracts valued at about €200 million.

Diploma Plc shares soared 17 percent. The technical products and service distributor raised its full-year organic revenue growth forecast after reporting robust half-year financial growth.

Smiths Group rallied 3.5 percent. The conglomerate said annual organic revenue growth would reach the top end of its 6-8 percent forecast range.

Energy supplier Centrica gained 2 percent. The company and its subsidiary Spirit Energy have reduced their stake in the UK North Sea's biggest gas field to Ithaca Energy in a deal worth £215million.

Telecom major Vodafone added 1.5 percent after launching a share buyback program.

Renewable energy firm Oersted soared 14.4 percent and Vestas Wind surged 6 percent after the Trump administration lifted a month-long stop-work order on the $5 billion Empire Wind offshore project.

In economic releases, Germany's producer prices declined at the fastest pace in six months in April largely due to lower energy prices, Destatis reported.

Producer prices fell 0.9 percent on a yearly basis in April, following a 0.2 percent drop in March.

This was the second consecutive decrease and also marked the biggest fall since October. Prices were expected to drop more moderately by 0.6 percent.