Europe close: Stocks end higher, helped by news from abroad
European shares ended higher, even as a rally driven by a promise of economic stimulus from the country’s premier lost steam.
Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at IG, attributed the gains to better-than-expected readings for US durable goods orders and Canadian consumer prices.
"The slow decline in equities seen since last week's highs is happening while volatility as measured by the CBOE VIX is tumbling back towards pre-Covid-19 levels, indicating that investors aren't at all worried about the slide," he added.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index edged up 0.05% to 452.90.
Germany's Dax edged up 0.21% to 15,846.86, but it was Spain's Ibex 35 that outperformed, rising by 1.28% to 9,393.0 led by shares of Banco Santander, Fluidra and Caixabank.
On the subject of Russia, the Wall Street Journal posited that "the Russian president bet he had more staying power than the West, but his Ukrainian quagmire now poses clear risks for Russia’s political stability."
The Stoxx 600 gauge for Basic Resources companies ended off by 0.02% at 541.38, although shares in Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore, and Rio Tinto were all up.
Overnight, China's Premier, Li Qiang, said the country's economic growth in the second quarter would be higher than the first and was expected to reach the annual economic growth target of around 5%.
The news helped boost mining stocks, heavily dependent on Chinese demand for raw materials.
For her part, European Central Bank President, Christine Lagarde, again telegraphed a rate hike for July's meeting - barring a material change in the outlook.
"It is unlikely that in the near future the central bank will be able to state with full confidence that the peak rates have been reached," Lagarde also said at the ECB's annual policy-making forum.
In other equity news, shares in JD Sports Fashion fell after the company warned of softer trade in its North American operations.
BT Group tumbled after UBS downgraded the shares to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’ and cut the price target to 120p from 146p, as it assumed a halving of the dividend amid free cash flow pressures.