European Stocks Recover In The Final Hour, Close Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Despite spending much of the day's session in negative territory, European stocks closed slightly higher on Tuesday thanks to brisk buying at several counters in the final hour.

Investors digested weak GDP data from China and tracked earnings updates from some top U.S. companies, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

The ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland was also in focus. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said at the forum today that global economic growth will bottom out this year.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.4%. Germany's DAX surged 0.35% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.48%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.12% down, while Switzerland's SMI closed lower by 0.3%.

Among other markets in Europe, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Spain and Turkiye closed higher.

Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Sweden ended weak, while Belgium, Denmark and Netherlands closed flat.

In the UK market, SSE gained more than 2%. Diageo, National Grid, Weir Group, BT Group, Associated British Foods, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Compass Group, Anglo American Plc and United Utilities gained 1 to 1.8%.

Ocado Group plunged more than 9%. Berkeley Group Holdings ended 2.7% down. JD Sports Fashion, Endeavour Mining, WPP, Fresnillo, Unilever, Flutter Entertainment, IAG, Barratt Developments and CRH lost 1 to 2%.

In Paris, L'Oreal, STMicroElectronics, Renault, Essilor, Eurofins Scientific, Hermes International, ArcelorMittal and Vinci gained 1.5 to 2.3%.

Engie plunged nearly 5%. Veolia, Societe Generale, Publicis Groupe, Kering and Michelin lost 1 to 1.6%.

In the German market, Henkel, Deutsche Post, MTU Aero Engines, Siemens and Brenntag advanced 1.2 to 2.25%.

Zalando dropped more than 3%. Merck and HelloFresh ended lower by 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively.

In economic releases, data showed the U.K. unemployment rate stabilized at 3.7% in three months to November, as expected.

Germany's economic sentiment turned positive in January for the first time in 11 months, survey results from ZEW showed on Tuesday. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment surged 40.2 points to +16.9 in January. The score was forecast to climb slightly to -15.0.

Germany consumer price inflation eased as initially estimated in December on government relief measures, final data published by Destatis showed Tuesday.

The consumer price index rose 8.6% year-on-year, following a 10% rise in November. The rate came in line with the preliminary estimate published on January 3.