Europe close: Sentiment buoyed by corporate updates, investors shrug off weak economic data

European markets finished higher on Tuesday as a raft of takeover deals and corporate earnings drove sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.38% to 468.62 with all major regional bourses higher alongside.

Investors shrugged off an unexpected decline in the ZEW institute's closely followed economic index for Germany in April.

The index registered a fall from 13.0 points for March to 4.1 in April (consensus: 13.5).

According to the ZEW, that meant that no significant improvement in the economy was likely over the next two quarters.

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed despite the release of official data showing that China’s economy grew at a quicker than expected pace of 4.5% during the first quarter, beating estimates of 4%.

In Britain, the UK unemployment rate ticked higher in the three months to February, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics.

The unemployment rate nudged 0.1 percentage points higher to 3.8%. This was driven by people unemployed for up to six months, the ONS said. Analysts had been expecting the rate to be steady.

Meanwhile, the employment rate came in at 75.8%, up 0.2 percentage points on the previous three-month period. The ONS put that down to part-time employees and self-employed workers.

Investors would be looking to the US for more earnings, including from Netflix, later on Tuesday.

In equity news, Airline Easyjet added 1.6% after posting a narrower first-quarter losses due to strong Easter demand and saying full-year profits would likely beat estimates on the back of strong summer bookings.

Pharma giant GSK announced it would buy Canada’s Bellus Health, a drug development company, in an all-cash deal worth $2 billion. GSK shares fell slightly on the news.

Its offer of $14.75 per share is more than double the value of Bellus shares’ closing price on the Nasdaq on Monday.