LONDON — European stocks closed higher on Tuesday, ending two consecutive sessions of declines.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.7%, with chemicals and financial services stocks adding 2% and 1.8% respectively to lead gains, as most sectors and major bourses finished in positive territory.
British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca has been accused by the EU of not doing enough to resolve a dispute over how many doses it will be able to supply to the bloc. The AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency but is expected to be imminent. AstraZeneca said last week that it is facing production problems.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned on Tuesday and will seek to lead a new mandate, plunging the country into more political turmoil amid concurrent health and economic crises. The move comes after weeks of tensions between Conte and Matteo Renzi, the head of a junior coalition party in the government.
Earnings remained in focus in Europe, with UBS on Tuesday reporting a net income of $1.71 billion for the fourth quarter of 2020, a 137% jump on the year before and vastly outstripping analyst expectations of $967 million, according to Refinitiv. The world's largest wealth manager's stock climbed 2.4% by the close.
Biggest movers
EQT shares soared more than 14% after the Swedish private equity firm beat full-year profit expectations and agreed to buy Exeter Property Group.
Spanish utility Naturgy saw its shares surge more than 15% after the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund made a 5 billion euro ($6.06 billion) offer for a stake in the company.