Dipo Olowookere
By Investors Hub
European stocks are turning in a mixed performance on Tuesday after a measure of German business confidence picked up slightly in September. The Ifo business confidence index climbed to 94.6 in September from 94.3 in August. Economists had forecast a score of 94.5.
Business confidence improved on a better assessment of the current situation, while expectations for the coming months worsened again.
Investors are also watching the latest developments on the trade front after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that U.S.-China trade talks would resume in Washington in two weeks.
While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index is just above the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent.
The drop by U.K. stocks comes ahead of a historic Supreme Court ruling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s five-week suspension of U.K. parliament. In stock-specific action, German biotechnology major Evotec has moved sharply higher after entering into a drug discovery deal with Japan’s Takeda.
Ryanair Holdings has also risen. The low-cost airline confirmed that its U.K. cabin crew voted by a majority of 80 percent in favor of a 4-year Collective Labour Agreement to cover all directly employed cabin crew in the U.K. until March 2023.
TUI Group shares have advanced after the travel and tourism company reiterated its fiscal year 2019 underlying EBITA guidance, saying the summer 2019 season is closing out in line with expectations.
On the other hand, Entertainment One, which is in $4.0 billion deal to be bought by Hasbro Inc., has slumped after issuing an update on its trading performance for the period from April 1 to September 23.
Merchant banking group Close Brothers has also moved to the downside after reporting a drop in interim profits.
