European Stocks Close Slightly Higher After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed slightly up on Tuesday with investors largely making cautious moves ahead of a slew of crucial U.S. and European data, including reports on inflation and manufacturing activity, due later in the week.

Investors continued to react to quarterly earnings updates, in addition to digesting the latest batch of economic data, and following the developments on the geopolitical front.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.18%. Germany's DAX gained 0.76%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.23%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.02%, while Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.11%.

Among other markets in Europea, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Portugal and Sweden ended higher.

Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Spain and Turkiye closed weak. Netherlands and Russia ended flat.

In the UK market, Vodafone climbed nearly 4%. Anglo American Plc, Flutter Entertainment, Antofagasta, SSE, Diageo, Burberry Group, Entain, Scottish Mortgage, HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered, Rio Tinto, Marks & Spencer, Severn Trent and Ocado gained 1 to 2.5%.

Asset manager Abrdn ended 3.3% down. The stock soared almost 5% earlier in the day after narrowing its full-year losses and announcing plans to cut around 500 jobs as part of a cost reduction program

Imperial Brands ended more than 4% down. Croda International drifted down 3.7%. Unilever ended 2.4% down, following a rating downgrade. Frasers Group, M&G, Informa, WPP, Beazley, Taylor Wimpey, RS Group and Segro lost 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Infineon rallied 4%. BASF, RWE, Continental, Bayer, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler Truck Holding, Zalando, Porsche and Vonovia gained 1 to 2.5%.

Puma ended down 4%. Symrise, Hannover Rueck and Beiersdorf also ended notably lower.

In Paris, Bouygues surged nearly 8% after posting annual core profit above its guidance.

Alstom gained about 6%. WorldLine, STMicroElectronics, Unibail Rodamco, Pernod Ricard, Teleperformance, Kering, Vinci, ArcelorMittal, Legrand, Veolia and Renault advanced 1 to 4%.

French retailer Casino jumped 43% after a French court gave the green light for its restructuring plan.

Eurofins Scientific dropped nearly 7% after the company reported lower than expected earnings per share for the full year. The company reported adjusted net profit of 568 million euros ($616.5 million) and adjusted earnings per share of 2.71 euros, down from 3.43 euros in 2022.

Edenred ended down 4.6% as quarterly results fell short of expectations. Schneider Electric and Thales also ended notably lower.

On the economic front, a report from the British Retail Consortium showed UK shop price inflation weakened to a near two-year low in February. The shop price index posted an annual increase of 2.5% on a yearly basis in February, slower than the 2.9% rise in January.

Consumer confidence in Germany is set to improve slightly in March, survey results from the market research group GfK showed. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to -29.0 in March from -29.6 in February. The score matched economists' expectations.

France's consumer confidence unexpectedly weakened in February, monthly survey results from the statistical office INSEE showed. The consumer sentiment index fell to 89 from 91 in the previous month. The score was forecast to improve to 92.

Lending to the euro area households grew at the slowest pace since 2015 and broad money supply posted a marginal growth in January, data released by the European Central Bank showed. Adjusted loans to households registered an annual increase of 0.3%, which was slower than the 0.4% rise in December.