European Markets Rallied Higher, Snapping 6-Session Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The European markets rallied sharply to the upside Wednesday, putting an end to a 6-session losing streak. Greece remains in focus ahead of a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande. Investors are optimistic that a deal will soon be reached to resolve the Greek debt problem.

The European Central Bank has reportedly increased the cap on the emergency liquidity assistance that Greek banks can draw on by 2.3 billion euros today. Recent volatility in the European bond market eased slightly today, but the sell-off continued. The yield on the German 10-year bond has risen back above 1 percent for the first time since September.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased by 2.05 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 1.76 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed by 2.40 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose by 1.75 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. gained 1.13 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 1.36 percent.

In Frankfurt, HeidelbergCement rose by 4.78 percent, after it announced full-year results.

Daimler climbed by 3.33 percent and BMW added 2.97 percent. Volkswagen also finished higher by 2.76 percent.

RWE increased by 2.70 percent and E.ON gained 2.21 percent.

In Paris, Total advanced by 2.14 percent and Technip added 1.22 percent.

Kering surged by 4.19 percent and LVMH gained 4.13 percent.

In London, retailer J. Sainsbury climbed by 4.54 percent after issuing its first-quarter sales update. Tesco finished up by 4.63 percent and Morrison Supermarkets climbed by 4.96 percent.

Standard Chartered surged by 5.80 percent, after its CEO vowed to eliminate waste and excess at the company.

Mining stocks performed well, thanks to an increase in precious metal prices. Fresnillo climbed by 3.15 percent and Anglo American added 2.50 percent. BHP Billiton advanced by 2.55 percent and Glencore rose by 1.82 percent.

Weir Group fell by 0.57 percent. The engineering solutions provider said its divisional order input over the first five months of 2015 was 34 percent lower than last year.

Inditex decreased by 0.47 percent in Madrid, after the retailer reported its first-quarter results.

AMS AG plunged by nearly 22 percent, after it reportedly lost Apple Inc. as a client.

French industrial and manufacturing output declined unexpectedly in April, the statistical office Insee revealed Wednesday. Industrial output dropped 0.9 percent from March when it remained flat. This was the first decline in five months. Economists had forecast production to grow 0.4 percent.

France's current account turned to a surplus in April, as a decline in imports of crude oil imports led to a narrowing in the visible trade deficit, the Bank of France said Wednesday. The current account showed a surplus of EUR 0.4 billion for April versus a deficit of EUR 1.4 billion for March. The merchandise trade deficit narrowed to EUR 1.1 billion from EUR 3.2 billion.

German business insolvencies continued to decline in the first quarter of 2015, the Federal Statistical Office said Wednesday. Local courts reported 5,715 business insolvencies in the first quarter, down 7.2 percent from the previous year quarter. The figure has been falling since the first quarter of 2010, when an annual increase of 6.7 percent was recorded.

Italy's industrial production dropped unexpectedly in April, after rising in the previous two months, figures from the statistical office Istat showed Wednesday.

Industrial production fell a seasonally-adjusted 0.3 percent month-over-month in April, reversing a 0.5 percent growth in March. Economists had expected a 0.3 percent gain for the month. It was the first decline in three months.

Greece's consumer prices declined at a faster-than-expected pace in May, figures from the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed Wednesday. The consumer price index fell 2.1 percent year-over-year in May, the same rate of decrease as in the previous two months. Economists had expected a 1.3 percent drop for the month. Consumer prices have been falling since March 2013.

U.K. industrial production expanded in April on oil and gas extraction, while manufacturing output shrank due to the weakness in pharmaceutical products. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that industrial output grew 0.4 percent month-on-month in April, better than the expected growth of 0.1 percent but weaker than March's 0.6 percent increase.