By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets advanced on
Tuesday, tracking most Asian bourses higher, after the People's
Bank of China provided a short-term liquidity injection to
commercial banks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.2% to 336.16, flirting with a
six-year high.
Shares of Unilever PLC (UL) rallied 3.7% after the
consumer-products company reported a rise in full-year
earnings.
Shares of Novozymes AS (NVZMY) picked up 2.3% 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 Rémy Cointreau SA gave up
3.1% as the drinks maker said it doesn't expect sales to rebound in
China during the crucial New Year holidays later in the month. The
country's crackdown on official gift-making pushed down sales by
more than 20% in the latest quarter.
More broadly, the Chinese Lunar New Year 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 will 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holiday, large amounts of money are usually withdrawn from the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, investors waited for the ZEW survey, set for released
midmorning, which should provide a snapshot of sentiment about
Germany's economy in January among the country's economists and
analysts.
Germany's DAX 30 index rose 0.3% to 9,746.07 ahead of the data.
France's CAC 40 index added 0.2% to 4,331.50, and the U.K.'s FTSE
100 index gained 0.1% to 6,843.88.
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