Europe midday: Stocks reverse course to trade higher as investors sift through data

European stocks edged higher on Tuesday as investors mulled over a series of data releases amid expectations that central banks will continue with their accommodative monetary policies.

“No doubt overall sentiment has improved over the past few days as uncertainty regarding an imminent US rate hike has been removed for now,” said Markus Huber, senior analyst at Peregrine & Black. “Many see a rate hike at the earliest in spring 2016 others even later or not at all for now. Firmer markets towards the end of the trading day would certainly confirm that the ‘bulls’ are slowly gaining the upper hand again.”

Equity markets in Europe racked up solid gains on Monday as investors bet that Friday’s weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls release would push back the timing of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

Stocks suffered losses early on Tuesday as investors booked profits, but regional indices managed to reverse course and by midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2%, France’s CAC was 0.6% higher and Germany’s DAX was up 0.7%.

Investors had a raft of data to sift through.

Figures released by Destatis showed German industrial orders were down 1.8% on the month, compared with expectations for a 0.5% increase. July’s drop, meanwhile, was revised down to 2.2% from 1.4%.

Meawhile, Germany’s construction sector expanded at the fastest rate in six months in September.

Markit’s construction purchasing managers’ index rose from 50.3 in August to 52.4, marking the strongest increase in construction output since March.

Growth in the German retail sector slowed, down slightly in September but the overall quarterly performance was the best since 2006.

Elsewhere, data revealed retail sales in the Eurozone grew for the fifth consecutive month in September. Markit’s retail PMI showed the rate of growth in the retail sector picked up slightly in September, as it rose from 51.4 in August to 51.9.

On the corporate front, Volkswagen shares were up after the company’s chief executive said it will delay or cancel all non-essential projects in a bid to slash spending following the emissions scandal.

French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom rose after the company said it aims to improve its profit margins and sales in the coming years as it looks to defend its standalone strategy.

French media group Vivendi rallied after raising its stake in Telecom Italia to 19.9%.

In London, SABMiller fell following a trading update for the six months to 30 September. The company said group net producer revenue rose 4% after a strong second quarter, but dollar fluctuation proved to be a bit of a drag.

Also on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that SABMiller rejected an informal takeover offer from Anheuser-Busch InBev that it considered too low. It said an initial proposal to the brewer made last week worth slightly over £40 a share fell short of the £45 the company’s executives and shareholders deem to be fair value.

Low cost airline Easyjet nudged lower despite posting growth in passenger numbers and load factor in September.