European shares rose to new highs on Tuesday after US senators struck a deal to end a three-day government shutdown. Euro zone stocks reached their highest in a decade, with Germany's DAX jumping more than 0.9 per cent at the open to touch a record 13,597 points.
“As the next goal, the bulls have the hurdle of 14,000 points in mind,” said market analyst Milan Cutkovic at trading house AxiTrader. “With the current mood on the stock markets, this is a realistic scenario for the coming weeks.”
After a previous session fueled by M&A news, corporate updates maintained the buoyant mood. Investors cheered plans by Europe's biggest retailer Carrefour to slash costs, open its lossmaking Chinese business to new investors and spend more heavily on e-commerce in the face of competition from Amazon.
“A strong performance for new boss Johan Lundgren in his first quarter as easyJet benefited from a combination of Ryanair cancellations and the demise of a trio of peers removing some capacity from the market", senior ETX market analyst Neil Wilson commented.
Sky shares were up 2.9 percent after a UK regulator said Fox buying Sky was not in the public interest because of media plurality concerns, but suggested remedies. The regulator CMA also backed Fox's commitment to broadcasting standards.
“Concerns on broadcasting standards would likely have been a complete deal breaker,” said Neil Campling, Co-Head of the Global Thematic Group at Mirabaud Securities.
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air rose 3.5 percent after saying it was interested in Italy's struggling flag carrier Alitalia but only regarding short and medium-haul routes. Shares in computer peripherals and mobile speaker maker Logitech jumped close to 5 per cent after it reported better than expected sales and raised its guidance.
Online grocery technology provider Ocado lost 5.1 per cent after a 27 per cent surge on Monday when it unveiled a deal with Canada's second-largest food supermarket group Sobeys.