Euro Stocks Pare Losses, Siemens Calms

European stocks closed broadly lower Tuesday, but off earlier lows as Siemens calmed investors' fears over corporate results, offsetting grim U.S. consumer confidence data.

The German industrial conglomerate stuck to its full-year profit outlook, sending its stock up 3.2 percent and boosting industrial shares, with Alstom gaining 3.7 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares staged a late rally and unofficially closed 0.2 percent higher at 785.82 points.

Stocks fell by more than 1 percent in afternoon trade after data showed U.S. consumer confidence fell to a record low in January, hit by the ongoing housing slump and bleak job market, fuelling fears over the outlook for the world's biggest economy.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its sentiment index fell to 37.7 from a revised 38.6 in December, confounding forecasts for a small uptick.

"Short-term rallies are to be expected, but stocks will certainly revisit their historical lows before we get an L-shaped recovery, with anemic growth for a while," said Pierre Sabatier, head of strategy at Pythagore Investment, in Paris.

Recently hammered banks added to their previous session's recovery, with Royal Bank of Scotland up 8.3 percent and Credit Agricole up 3.2 percent.

Auto stocks were also on the upside, with BMW up 2 percent and Daimler up 3.1 percent.

Pharmaceutical shares, which have been outperforming the market this month, were among the biggest losers, with AstraZeneca down 3.9 percent and Roche down 2.4 percent.

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