The European markets are modest to moderately higher in afternoon trading Tuesday, as investors remained optimistic about policy actions from central banks to support the economy and data showed that Eurozone producer price inflation eased to the lowest level in more than two years in May.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.41 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is gaining 0.35 percent.
The German DAX is adding 0.58 percent and the French CAC 40 is gaining 0.16 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 is gaining 0.29 percent and Switzerland's SMI is gaining 0.59 percent.
In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank is gaining 1.3 percent and Commerzbank is up 0.3 percent.
Deutsche Boerse is losing 1 percent. Linde and E.ON are moderately lower. Kepler raised Linde to "Buy" from "Hold."
Axel Springer is gaining 2.5 percent. Berenberg raised the stock to "Buy" from "Hold."
Klöckner is climbing 3.1 percent. Kepler cut the stock to "Reduce" from "Buy."
In Paris, Peugeot is gaining 4.1 percent. The car maker is said to be planning to axe as much as 10 percent of its French workforce this year, higher than its earlier announcement. Renault is gaining 1.7 percent.
Societe Generale is advancing 1.1 percent and Credit Agricole is gaining 0.8 percent. However, BNP Paribas is losing 0.9 percent.
Builders Vinci and Bouygues are declining 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
Nomura initiated Schneider Electric with a "Neutral" rating. The stock is up 0.5 percent.
In London, Barclays is gaining 3.3 percent after Bob Diamond resigned as its CEO, following the rate-setting scandal. Deutsche bank cut Barclays to "Hold" from "Buy."
Miners are trading form. Kazakhmys is gaining 3.6 percent and Vedanta is climbing 5.6 percent.
Aberdeen Asset Management is losing 3.3 percent.
Talvivaara Mining shares are plunging nearly 14 percent after the Finnish base metals producer said it is 'unlikely to achieve' production forecast for fiscal 2012.
Philips is falling 2.2 percent in Amsterdam. Nomura initiated the stock with a "Buy" rating.
Koninklijke KPN is falling 1.9 percent. The telecommunications operator plans to appoint Eric Hageman as the company's Chief Financial Officer. Hageman, 42, has been acting as full time interim CFO since January.
In economic news from the eurozone, the producer price inflation in the domestic market eased to 2.3 percent in May from 2.6 percent in April. This is the weakest rate since March 2010. On a monthly basis, the producer price index fell 0.5 percent, following a 0.1 percent gain in the preceding month.
The subdued inflation figures have fueled hopes for an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank in the upcoming meeting on Thursday.
Across Asia, markets ended in the green. China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1.5 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.70 percent. Australia's All Ordinaries slipped 0.15 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a mixed open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before ending the session mixed. The Dow edged down 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq rose 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 crept up 0.3 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for August delivery is adding $1.98 to $85.73 per barrel and August gold is gaining $11.7 to $1609.4 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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