Some good news in the continent today outweighed the bad and drove European stocks to gains on the Tuesday session. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.8%, the FTSE 100 increased 1.5%, the DAX gained 2.4%, the CAC 40 jumped by 2.7%, and the IBEX 35 moved up by 2.34%.
Alcoa’s traditional start to earnings season came as a boost to European shares, as AA matched profit estimates but surpassed on revenue and outlook.
Mining companies were also a huge part of today’s European rally, with BHP Billiton rising 3.4%, Rio Tinto Group rising 3.6%, and Xstrata rising 3.1% during the day.
French business confidence climbed up from its two year low, with some new signs that the worst may be over for the European debt crisis in the country. Not all news on that front was good, however, as Italy learned from the Fitch credit agency that their rating will likely be downgraded at the end of the month. Italy is one of six European nations in peril of such a drop, but France, who saw the aforementioned rise in business confidence, was not one of them.
In the commodities world, Brent crude rose 0.8% to close at 113.35. Gas oil rose 1.3%, increasing it to 972.75 (US 102.68). Talks on an Iranian crude ban have slowed recently as many nations in the EU oppose a flat-out ban on all imports, but rather propose a phased and partial ban.
Cocoa futures continued their huge rise on Tuesday, gaining 8.12%. This is due mainly to a work stoppage in Nigeria, which is one of the most major producers of said product in the world today.
As for metals, copper also rallied to rise 2.69%, while also increased by 1.45%, currently standing at about US 1,633.00.
In currencies, the Euro rose versus the dollar on Tuesday to trade around 1.2779 USD, and the British Pound also gained versus the dollar to finish at approximately 1.5486 USD.
