Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Investors Hub
European stocks were flat to slightly higher on Tuesday as the euro paused after recent rally and investors awaited more earnings news from the U.S. as trading resumes following a long weekend.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.3 percent at 398.81 in opening deals after declining 0.2 percent the previous day.
The German DAX was rising half a percent, France’s CAC 40 index was moving up 0.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent.
Novartis rose about 1 percent. Sandoz, a Novartis division, announced that it has received approval from the U.S. health regulator for proposed biosimilar adalimumab to the reference medicine, Humira.
German luxury fashion house Hugo Boss rallied 2.5 percent on reporting 5 percent growth in its fourth-quarter Group sales.
Automotive manufacturing firm Continental AG added 1.5 percent on reports of business restructuring.
French utility Engie gained 1.4 percent after its chief executive said 2018 would see an acceleration of growth.
Media group Mediawan jumped over 4 percent on news that it is acquiring three major French TV production companies.
JD Sports jumped 6.7 percent as the British retailer raised its profit forecast for the second time since September.
Premier Foods climbed 3.2 percent after reporting an increase in third-quarter sales.
Swedish networking and telecommunications firm Ericsson slid half a percent. The company announced that it would take writedowns of SKr14.2bn ($1.8bn) after impairment testing of its businesses.
On the economic front, Germany’s consumer price inflation accelerated to a five-year high of 1.8 percent in 2017, final data published by Destatis showed today, while wholesale prices logged an annual growth of 3.5 percent in the year.
U.K.’s consumer price inflation dropped to 3 percent in December from November’s six-year high of 3.1 percent, official data showed.
