European stocks push higher despite weak data; Dax up 1.33%

Investing.com - European stocks pushed higher on Tuesday, even as disappointing economic reports from the euro zone added to concerns over the financial situation in the single currency bloc.

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 surged 1.31%, France’s CAC 40 gained 1.15%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rallied 1.33%.

In the euro zone, official data showed that the unemployment rate rose to an all-time high of 12% in February compared with an original estimate of 11.9% for January, which was revised up to 12%.

A separate report showed that the euro zone’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked up to 46.8 in March, from a final reading of 46.6 the previous month, still substantially below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

Meanwhile, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano was due to meet with working committee advisors later Tuesday, in an attempt to break the political deadlock in the country.

Separately, Cypriot government officials were preparing to meet with representatives of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to seek easier bailout terms.

Financial stocks turned broadly higher, as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale climbed 0.77% and 1.60%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank jumped 1.48% and 1.14% respectively.

Among peripheral lenders, Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit declined 0.18% and 1.20%, while Spain's BBVA slipped 0.15%.

Elsewhere, Syngenta, which produces crop protection products and seeds, plummeted 1.82% after Liberum Capital Ltd. downgraded the shares to hold.

In London, FTSE 100 jumped 1.10%, even as data showed that the U.K. manufacturing PMI rose to 48.3 in March from 47.9 in February, but came in below expectations for a reading of 48.5.

Vodafone remained sharply higher, surging 4.60%, after the company accused the Indian government of "contradictory and inconsistent" actions in an ongoing row over valuable phone spectrum licences.

ICAP soared 6.51%, extending earlier gains, after Nasdaq OMX Group said it will buy eSpeed, the electronic trading system for U.S. Treasuries, from BGC Partners for about USD750 million.

Meanwhile, financial stocks turned mostly higher, as shares in Lloyds Banking climbed 0.49% and HSBC Holdings advanced 0.58%, while Barclays rallied 0.99%. The Royal Bank of Scotland underperformed on the other hand, dipping 0.02%.

Mining stocks remained on the downside, with Rio Tinto slid 0.24%, while rivals Eurasian Natural Resources and Evraz plunged 2.95% and 3.27% respectively.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.43% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.46% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.66% increase.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a government report on factory orders.

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