(Reuters) – European shares scaled a fresh two-week high on Tuesday, while investors monitored the ongoing corporate earnings season and awaited further economic cues from the central bank’s interest rate decision due later this week.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2%, as of 0710 GMT, with telecoms and travel stocks underpinning gains in morning trade.
The European Central Bank will provide an update on its monetary policy on Thursday, and is widely expected to cut rates further by 25 basis points.
Recent data has signalled the euro zone economy was in worse shape than when policymakers last met in September.
Ericsson reported third-quarter core earnings and sales above expectations as demand for 5G gear rebounded in North America, sending the Swedish company’s shares up 8%.
Bucking the upbeat mood, energy stocks slumped 2.5%, tracking a slide in oil prices after a media report said that Israel has informed the United States it will not strike Iran’s oil facility, easing fears of supply disruptions.
Shares of TotalEnergies dropped 3.7% after the French oil major said its third-quarter downstream results are expected to sharply decrease due to lower refining margins in Europe and elsewhere.
Deutsche Bank fell 1.6% as the sale of some 16 million shares was priced at 16.01 euros apiece, a bookrunner for the transaction said.
(Reporting by Paolo Laudani in Gdansk and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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