European Markets Accelerated In Late Trade

(RTTNews) - The European markets extended their recent winning streak to five sessions Tuesday. Energy stocks were among the top gainers on the news that OPEC will hold talks in September in an effort to limit production. Investors were encouraged by some better than expected corporate financial results and some dovish comments from the BoE's Ian McCafferty.

The gains in Europe accelerated in the afternoon, following the opening of the U.S. markets. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both reached new all-time highs in early trading on Wall Street.

Bank of England policymaker Ian McCafferty hinted at additional rate cuts and expansion of the quantitative easing by the central bank, if the economic downturn worsens further.

"If the economy proves to have turned down in line with the initial survey signals, I believe that more easing is likely to be required, but that can easily be delivered in coming months", McCafferty wrote in The Times.

"Bank rate can be cut further, closer to zero, and quantitative easing can be stepped up", he added.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.95 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 1.55 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.78 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 2.50 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 1.19 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.62 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.74 percent.

In Frankfurt, reinsurer Munich Re climbed 5.64 percent after its second-quarter profit beat analysts' expectations.

In Paris, telecommunications company SFR Group soared after Chief Executive Michel Combes said the company is now seeing a more normalized competitive environment and customers are ready to pay more for improved networks.

In London, insurer and asset manager Standard Life jumped 1.28 percent after reporting an 18 percent rise in underlying operating profit for the first half of 2016.

Barclays advanced 2.41 percent. The lender has agreed to pay $100 million to 44 U.S. states to settle allegations that it had manipulated inter-bank lending rates nearly a decade ago.

Technology firm Smiths Group rose 2.48 percent on saying its revenue for the year ended 31 July 2016 is expected to be above both expectations and the previous year.

Payments processor Worldpay Group climbed 2.52 percent after its first-half underlying earnings beat forecasts.

Oil & gas services company Amec Foster Wheeler soared 11.71 percent after backing its profit target for 2016.

Legal & General Group sank 5.55 percent despite reporting a 23 percent rise in half-year pre-tax profit.

Altice soared 14.94 percent in Amsterdam after reporting a 2.7 percent rise in second-quarter core earnings.

Jewelry maker Pandora dropped 4.16 percent in Copenhagen after its second-quarter sales and profit came in below estimates.

Germany's shipments recovered in June but the trade surplus decreased slightly as the increase in imports exceeded export growth.

Exports rose by adjusted 0.3 percent month-over-month in June, reversing a 1.8 percent decrease in May, figures from Destatis showed Tuesday. However, the pace of growth was weaker than the expected 1.1 percent increase.

At the same time, imports grew 1.0 percent over the month, after remaining flat in the preceding month. This was the first increase in four months.

As a result, the foreign trade balance posted a surplus of about EUR 21.7 billion in June, below May's EUR 22.1 billion.

U.K. industrial production grew marginally in June and the visible trade gap increased unexpectedly on higher imports, signaling weak contribution to growth from manufacturing and exports.

Industrial production grew only 0.1 percent on month in June, the Office for National Statistics reported Tuesday. Nonetheless, the increase reversed some of the 0.6 percent fall in May and confounded economists' forecast for a 0.1 percent drop.

The U.K. visible trade deficit increased unexpectedly in June, the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. The trade in goods showed a shortfall of GBP 12.4 billion compared to a GBP 11.5 billion deficit in May. The deficit was forecast to narrow to GBP 10 billion in June.

The total value of like-for-like sales in the United Kingdom surged 1.1 percent on year in July, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday. That beat forecasts for a decline of 0.7 percent following the 0.5 percent fall in June.

China's inflation eased marginally in July, as food prices climbed at a slower pace. Inflation slowed to 1.8 percent in July from 1.9 percent in June, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday. The annual rate matched economists' expectations.

With hours worked increasing by more than output, the Labor Department released a report on Tuesday showing an unexpected decline in U.S. labor productivity in the second quarter.

The report showed that productivity fell by 0.5 percent in the second quarter after sliding by 0.6 percent in the first quarter. The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected productivity to climb by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said unit labor costs surged up by 2.0 percent in the second quarter after edging down by a revised 0.2 percent in the first quarter. Economists had expected labor costs to climb by 1.8 percent compared to the 4.5 percent jump that had been reported for the previous quarter.

Reflecting a jump in inventories of non-durable goods, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday unexpectedly showing an increase in U.S. inventories of wholesale goods in the month of June. The report said wholesale inventories rose by 0.3 percent in June following an upwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in May.

Economists had expected inventories to come in unchanged compared to the 0.1 percent uptick that had been reported for the previous month.