Nikhil Sharma and Shashwat Chauhan
(Reuters) – Europe struggled to find the right direction on Tuesday as gains in industrials and financial services stocks offset losses in health care stocks, with focus on key continent-wide inflation data due later in the day.
Europe’s main index pared initial losses to remain at 513.28 points, trading at its highest level in three weeks.
Financial services rose 0.9% to be among the top STOXX subsectors, helped by a nearly 5% rise in Partners Group shares after UBS upgraded the buyout company to buy.
Shares in UK retailers rose 0.8%. Next Shares (LON:) rose 2.7% after the clothing retailer raised its full-year profit forecast for the fourth time in six months.
Industrial goods and services shares rose 0.3%, helped by a 9.8% rise in heavy machinery and transportation supplier Kion Group. The company has partnered with Nvidia (NASDAQ:) and IT services provider Accenture (NYSE:) to optimize supply chains using artificial intelligence technologies.
Volvo (OTC:) shares were also boosted by a 4.7% rise.
On the other hand, healthcare fell 0.4%. Index heavyweight Novo Nordisk (NYSE:) lost 2.3%, while AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:) fell 1.2%.
The pan-European benchmark jumped nearly 1% in the last session following a report that US President-elect Donald Trump may opt for a less aggressive tariff strategy.
Trump later denied the report, adding to uncertainty in the days leading up to the former president’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
“Rumors and denials have a habit of misleading investors and causing temporary disruption across a range of assets,” Societe Generale (OTC:) analysts wrote.
“Yesterday was a prime example of how stories emanating from established channels can distort daily feeds.”
The focus will be on eurozone inflation data due later in the session, which could provide more insight into the European Central Bank’s interest rate outlook.
Consumer prices in France rose less than expected in December, while inflation in Switzerland fell again, raising expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Swiss National Bank.
European stocks lagged their global peers last year as looming tariff threats, a slowing economy and geopolitical uncertainty in the leading economies of France and Germany kept investors on edge.
Deutsche Bank (ETR:) said it is now “overweight” on European shares due to an improving political climate, macroeconomic conditions and potential Chinese stimulus measures in 2025.
Among other noteworthy stocks, Sodexo (EPA:) fell 8.4% after the French food service provider missed market expectations for first-quarter organic revenue.