By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets pushed toward
their highest close in six years on Tuesday after the People's Bank
of China provided a short-term liquidity injection to commercial
banks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.4% to 337.12, tracking Wall
Street and most Asian bourses higher.
Shares of Unilever PLC (UL) gained 2.5% after the
consumer-products company reported a rise in full-year
earnings.
Shares of Novozymes AS (NVZMY) picked up 1.9% after the enzyme
maker said it expects sales and profits to rise in 2014 from the
previous year. It also posted a slightly stronger-than-expected
profit increase for the fourth quarter and proposed a raised
dividend for 2013.
On a more downbeat note, shares of Alstom SA tumbled 14%, making
the company the worst performer on the Stoxx 600. The Alstom said
demand for its turbines has dropped off because global utilities
are building fewer power plants and cut its operating margin
forecast for the full year.
Shares of Rémy Cointreau SA rebounded from earlier losses,
rising 1.6%. The drinks maker said it doesn't expect sales to
rebound in China during the crucial Lunar New Year holidays later
in the month. The country's crackdown on official gift-making
pushed sales down more than 20% in the latest quarter.
More broadly, the coming Chinese holiday was in focus in the
financial sector. Most Asian markets closed in positive territory
on Tuesday after the People's Bank of China said it would intervene
in the money markets to cool the "squeeze in interbank-lending
lending/borrowing rates, which had moved up in repose to the
seasonal New Year cash drawdown by the public," according to Mike
van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets. Around the
holiday, large amounts of money are usually withdrawn from the
banks to fund travel and gifts.
In Europe, the ZEW sentiment survey showed German economic
expectations unexpectedly fell in January, although they remained
at a high level.
Germany's DAX 30 index rose 0.6% to 9,772.10. France's CAC 40
index added 0.4% to 4,337.74, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index gained
0.2% to 6,851.49.
BNP Paribas SA climbed 2.8% in Paris after J.P. Morgan Cazenove
lifted the French bank to overweight from neutral on expectations
of "higher capital return and a sensible external strategy to
unlock value."
Outside the main indexes, shares of Nordea Bank AB (NRBAY) lost
1.3% after Credit Suisse cut the bank to neutral from outperform.
The analysts said the stock had reached the fair-value level.
More must-reads from MarketWatch:
Get ready! Davos a-go-go and U.K. jobs drive Europe's week
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Oil futures rise after PBOC gives a liquidity injection
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