European Stocks Move Modestly Higher Ahead Of Fed Announcement

(RTTNews) - European stocks moved modestly higher during on Tuesday as investors digested mixed regional data and looked ahead to key Federal Reserve and Bank of England meetings this week for directional cues.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.2 percent to 405.63 after gaining 0.2 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX Index also crept up by 0.2 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Spanish lender BBVA surged 6.2 after posting solid fourth-quarter results and announcing a share buyback of 781 million euros ($846.1 million).

Advertising agency WPP also showed a significant move to the upside after upgrading its medium-term financial targets.

Infrastructure products group Hill & Smith also moved notably higher after appointing a new chief operating officer.

MorphoSy also advanced. The biopharmaceutical company expects Monjuvi U.S. net product sales to be in the range of $80 million to $95 million for the year 2024, in line with its previous guidance.

Meanwhile, shares of German food delivery service Delivery Hero plunged by 5.3 percent. The company said it would sell a stake in Deliveroo as consumer demand wanes.

Hapag-Lloyd also tumbled. The container shipping company registered a significant decline in preliminary earnings for the full year, mainly due to lower freight rates attributable to normalization of global supply chains.

Zurich Insurance also slumped after an announcement that Viridium Group won't buy its legacy life insurance policy business in Germany.

In economic news, German GDP dropped 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter after stagnating in the previous two quarters, data published by Destatis showed - matching expectations. The statistical office confirmed that GDP fell 0.3 percent in 2023.

Separate data showed France narrowly escaped a recession in the latter half of last year. French GDP posted nil growth in the fourth quarter, the same rate as seen in the third quarter, flash data from the statistical office INSEE showed.

Another report from the INSEE showed that French household consumption growth softened in December reflecting a decrease in food consumption.

Elsewhere, the British Retail Consortium said the annual shop price inflation in the U.K. slowed to 2.9 percent in January, down from 4.3 percent the month prior. It marks the seventh consecutive monthly decline and the lowest rate since May 2022.

The euro area economy stagnated in the fourth quarter avoiding a technical recession as the southern European economies, mainly Spain and Italy, achieved better growth.

Gross domestic product remained flat after falling 0.1 percent in the third quarter, the preliminary flash estimate from Eurostat showed.

Economists had forecast another 0.1 percent fall in the fourth quarter, which would have pushed the currency bloc into a recession.