Europe open: Shares rally on Twitter deal, but China worries persist

European shares rebounded at the open on Tuesday after a rally in US tech stocks driven by Elon Musk’s agreed $43bn takeover of social media platform Twitter.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.61% in early deals, with all major regional bourses higher. The tech-heavy US Nasdaq index rose 1.3% overnight on the Musk/Twitter deal.

However, the mood was tempered by mixed Asian markets, where fears of an economic slowdown in China persist as the country battles rising Covid cases and ponders a lockdown of the capital Beijing.

In the UK, official data showed the government borrowed less than expected in March and the estimate of borrowing for the rest of the past financial year was revised down.

Public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, was £18.1bn in March - lower than the average 19.8bn analysts' forecast. The government borrowed £151.8bn in the year to the end of March - £24bn more than forecast by the government's fiscal watchdog, the Office for National Statistics said.

In equity news, shares in Danish shipping giant Maersk rose as the company revised its full year guidance for 2022 upwards to underlying EBITDA of around $30bn from $24bn.

Swedish medical technology company Getinge slumped after first quarter profits fell on supply chain woes.

Office space provider IWG fell, despite a rise in first-quarter revenue.

Shares in Primark owner AB Foods fell as the company reported a surge in interim profits but warned that prices would rise at the clothing retail chain.