(MENAFN– ecpulse)
European stocks advanced early Tuesday, as traders awaited the Ifo business sentiment index for Germany. But gains were capped as traders continued to eye developments in Iraq and Ukraine.
The market sentiment looks kindly upbeat with the start of the European session, while caution is mainly spread across the board, especially with the lingering geopolitical tension in Iraq where government forces were reported to have regained control of border crossings with Syria, which were seized by Sunni militants over the weekend. However, the civil fighting has yet to spread to the Southern part of the country, which is home to more than 80% of Iraq`s oil output.
In Ukraine, fighting flared between Ukrainian and pro-Moscow separatist forces, both sides reported on Sunday, further straining a unilateral ceasefire declared by Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin pressed Kyiv to talk to the rebels.
As of 03:05 a.m. ET, the Stoxx 600 was up slightly by 0.78 point or 0.23% at 347.09. Nine out of ten groups on the European-pan benchmark shot higher as materials, energy and industrials led the morning rally.
The three major European regional benchmarks traded higher as well ahead of the German sentiment data.
- Britain`s FTSE 100 rose 17.36 points or 0.26% to 6,817.92
- France`s CAC 40 rose 19.29 points or 0.43% to 4,534.86
- Germany`s DAX 30 rose 18.29 points or 0.18% to 9,939.20
The Ifo Institute will publish its closely-watched business climate index at 10:00 a.m. Munich time. The index probably fell slightly to 110.3 in June from 110.4 in May, according to the average forecast by Bloomberg News.
Among equity movers:
- Shire Plc rose nearly 1.5% around 4,330.01 pence after a report that is has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as it faces potential takeover offers
- Imagination Technologies Group Plc rose 7.62% around 252.90 pence after forecasting a high level of licensing activity for the full year.
- Altice SA fell more than 4% around 50.52 euros after announcing a $1.3 billion share sale.
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