Europe open: Stocks edge ahead amid earnings deluge, bid frenzy

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

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.17% in early trade with all major regional bourses higher. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed after official data showed China’s economy grew more than expected at 4.5% year on year, 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 this down to part-time employees and self-employed workers.

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

In equity news, Airline Easyjet opened 5% higher after narrowing 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.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com