By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Energy stocks also rise

European stocks closed in the green Tuesday, with smart-card maker Gemalto NV and retail giant Steinhoff Holdings NV scoring notable gains.

Energy shares also rose after oil prices marched higher in the wake of a key pipeline outage.

How markets are moving: The Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 0.7% to end at 391.63, erasing Monday's fall of less than 0.1% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-edge-lower-as-techs-fall-but-uk-blue-chips-rise-2017-12-11). The pan-European index closed at its highest level since Nov. 8, according to FactSet data.

Among country-specific gauges, Germany's DAX 30 index rose 0.5% to end at 13,183.53, and France's CAC 40 picked up 0.8% to 5,427.19.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to end at 7,500.41. Gains for energy shares helped there, as investors also digested official figures showing the U.K. inflation rate at its highest level (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-inflation-hits-almost-6-year-high-2017-12-12) in almost six years.

The euro traded at $1.1722, down from $1.1771 late Monday in New York.

Stock movers: Shares of smart-card maker Gemalto (GTO.AE) soared 35% for the Stoxx Europe 600's biggest gain as the company reviewed an unsolicited takeover bid (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gemalto-to-review-51-bln-takeover-bid-by-atos-2017-12-12) of EUR4.3 billion euro ($5.1 billion) by French information-technology company Atos SE. Atos shares (ATO.FR) were up 7.1%.

Steinhoff shares rallied 28% for the Stoxx 600's second-largest advance, with the company behind Mattress Firm and Poundland saying it is enlisted more outside advisers to aid in its accounting crisis. The stock remains down 78% for the month.

Other M&A in focus: But a takeover agreement for Australian mall operator Westfield Corp. (WFGPY) weighed on shares of Unibail-Rodamco (UL.AE), which fell 4.1%. The European property company said it has reached a deal to buy Westfield, valuing it at 20.8 billion Australian dollars (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/westfield-in-157-bln-takeover-by-unibail-rodamco-2017-12-12)(US$15.7 billion).

What else moved markets: The Stoxx Europe 600 Oil & Gas Index was kicked up 1.2% as crude and Brent futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brent-oil-rises-to-fresh-212-year-high-as-north-sea-pipeline-outage-reverberates-2017-12-12) extended the gains they logged on Monday after news that a major North Sea oil pipeline, The Forties, will be shut down for weeks to repair a leak. Crude futures later turned negative, but energy stocks remained in the green.

While the outage is a significant supply disruption--the pipeline carries supplies from more than 80 major fields--it has a wider impact in that the Forties's flows feed into a key price benchmark for global oil.

Oil producer moves: Among oil industry stocks, Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) rose 2.5%, France's Total (TOT) added on 1.5%, and Statoil ASA (STL.OS) claimed a 3.1% rise. Subsea 7 SA (SUBC.OS) rose 1%.

Economic news: The ZEW think tank's economic conditions index rose to 89.3 in December, from 88.8 in November, indicating a more upbeat view of the situation in Germany. Economic expectations came in at 17.4, down from 18.7 in November.

U.K. inflation in November was at its highest since March 2012, hitting 3.1%, according to official figures. That was above expectations of 3% and more than a full percentage point above the Bank of England's target.

The U.K. central bank will release its next policy decision on Thursday, but no changes are expected. The European Central Bank will put out its own monetary policy update the same day, while the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point at the conclusion of its meeting on Wednesday.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 12, 2017 14:16 ET (19:16 GMT)

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