(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The gains follow a rise in Asia and another record day on the Wall Street . US stocks futures pointed to a flat start.
Eurozone government bond yields were slightly higher but remained near record lows as investors anticipated the ECB's purchases. The central bank will finalise the details of its scheme at its meeting on Thursday and may start buying immediately afterwards.
German retail sales rose 2.9 per cent month-on-month and 5.3 per cent year-on-year in January, more than economists had forecast, helping lift the DAX stock index 0.2 per cent.
"Eurozone economic surprises have veered from extremely negative to extremely positive in very short order," said Eric Lascelles, chief economist at RBC Global Asset Management. "Eurozone prospects may be turning up."
Merger speculation in the Portuguese banking sector also supported the European market. Shares in Banco BPI and Banco Comercial Portugues were up 6-8 per cent.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.1 per cent at 1,562.36 points, just off Monday's seven-year high.
"German retail sales got off to a very strong start in the new year on the back of (lower) energy prices and no doubt due to the (hike in) minimum wage," said Norbert Wuthe, senior analyst at Bayerische Landesbank.
The dollar pulled back from an 11-year high against a basket of major currencies, coming under pressure against the yen after Etsuro Honda, an economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told the Wall Street Journal that dollar/yen may be at the "upper limit of comfort zone".
The dollar index was last 95.493, having risen as high as 95.516 in Asian trading. The Australian dollar rallied against its US counterpart after the RBA opted to leave its policy rate unchanged at record low of 2.25 per cent, surprising some who had looked for another cut after a similar move in February.
The Aussie was 0.5 per cent higher at $0.7803, bouncing from $0.7751 before the decision. The euro weakened slightly to $1.1164.
Oil rebounded by more than $1 to above $60 a barrel on Tuesday as fighting in Libya, stronger equity markets and firm demand helped Brent futures recover from the biggest one-day loss in a month.
Brent crude fell almost five per cent on Monday as traders refocused on rising global supplies, which pushed oil prices down more than 60 per cent between June and January.
Gold steadied on Tuesday as positive technical signals. Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at $1,207.65 an ounce at 1031 GMT.
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