European Markets Close Higher; Mining Stocks Lead Gains With Rio Tinto Up 5%

The DAX Index yield curve displayed on a screen at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, operated by Deutsche Boerse AG, in Frankfurt, Germany.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.

European stock markets returned from the long Easter weekend with positive momentum.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.6% higher provisionally, with most sectors and major bourses closing in the green.

Mining stocks led gains with a 3.6% rise, with Rio Tinto up 5%, despite recent signs of weakness from the Chinese and U.S. economies. Glencore also gained as its CEO met with shareholders in Teck Resources in Toronto to garner support for a proposed takeover.

Autos followed with a 1.8% increase, while construction stocks rose 1.6%. Food and beverage stocks fell 0.3%.

Stock markets closed higher Thursday after three straight sessions of marginal losses last week.

U.S. non-farm payrolls data was roughly in line with expectations on Friday, with investors now looking ahead to U.S. inflation data set for release Wednesday.

Earnings data is also expected later in the week from JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citi.

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific mostly rose Tuesday as the Bank of Korea held interest rates at 3.5%, in line with expectations.

U.S. stocks were little changed through the morning Tuesday as investors looked toward the release of economic data later this week.

European stocks close higher

Europe's Stoxx 600 index closed 0.6% higher on Tuesday, with eyes on economic data from the U.S.

France's CAC 40 climbed 0.9% while the FTSE 100 rose 0.57% and Germany's DAX closed 0.37% higher.

— Jenni Reid

Stocks open little changed

The major averages were little changed, with the S&P 500 and Dow advanced slightly, while the Nasdaq pulled back marginally.

— Fred Imbert

IMF says global economy heading for weakest growth since 1990

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday released its weakest global growth expectations for the medium term in more than 30 years.

The D.C.-based institution said that five years from now, global growth is expected to be around 3% — the lowest medium-term forecast in an IMF World Economic Outlook since 1990.

"The world economy is not currently expected to return over the medium term to the rates of growth that prevailed before the pandemic," the Fund said in its latest World Economic Outlook.

— Silvia Amaro

Northern Ireland needs to restore democratic control over laws, says former secretary of state

Theresa Villiers, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (2012-2016), discusses U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace agreement.

Investor panic triggered the quick downfall of SVB and Credit Suisse, asset manager says

Tatjana Puhan, deputy chief investment officer at Tobam, discusses the outlook for stock markets and investors' reaction to recent developments, including the banking crisis.

2022 was actually a ‘pretty good’ year for hedge funds, says hedge fund advisory firm

Patrick Ghali, managing partner at Sussex Partners, discusses the outlook for hedge funds in the wake of the banking crisis.

Stocks on the move: Soitec up 6%; Tui down 5%

Shares of Soitec were up 6.8% after releasing its 2024 outlook and 2026 financial model Friday while European markets were closed for Easter.

The French semiconductor materials company said it continues to expect revenue to grow in 2023, and to remain stable in 2024 as the company reflects the challenges in the market.

Soitec also reduced its target revenue for 2026 from $2.3 billion to $2.1 billion, but the cut has contributed to the share price spike rather than dampened it, according to analysts.

"Admission of the weakness and the likely reduction in FY24 earnings estimates by 15-16% will likely be taken positively by the market, given the underperformance by the stock," J.P. Morgan said, as reported by Reuters.

Holiday company Tui fell to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 index with a share price drop of 5.4% after Morgan Stanley cut its target price from 15 euros ($16.35) to 8.5 euros. Citi upgraded the tourism group to "neutral" from "sell."

Tui shares had jumped Thursday on reports of strong traveler demand.

BMW shares rise on 'significant growth' in electric vehicles in first quarter; overall sales dip slightly

Shares of BMW were up 1.8% in early trade after the company reported "significant growth" in its global sales of fully electric vehicles in the first quarter.

The company remains on track for a small sales growth for the full year of 2023, BMW said in a press release, despite reporting slightly lower sales in the first quarter compared with last year.

BMW delivered 588,138 vehicles in the first quarter, down 1.5% from the previous year, the German car manufacturer said.

"The main growth drivers in 2023 will be fully-electric vehicles and models from the high-end premium segment," Pieter Nota, member of the board of management of BMW AG, responsible for customer, brands, sales, said in the release.

The wider autos industry was up 1.3%.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European stock markets are expected to open higher across the board in a strong start to the trading week.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 is set to be up 45.9 points to reach 7,795.2 and Germany's DAX will increase 118 points to 15,718, according to IG data. France's CAC index will be up 62.7 points to 7,381.8 and Italy's MIB is set for a 205.5-point uptick to 26,894.6.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

CNBC Pro: Goldman Sachs names 5 buy-rated stocks — giving one more than 70% upside

Goldman Sachs revisited some of its stock ratings in light of recent volatility, sticking to some of them — and upgrading others.

Some of those stocks are on the conviction buy list of the Wall Street bank, which has raised some of their price targets, giving them big upside.

Here are five of the stocks, three of which are on Goldman's conviction buy list.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Bitcoin tops $30,000 for the first time since June 2022

Bitcoin climbed on Monday evening, topping the key psychological level of $30,000 as investors awaited key inflation data later in the week that could steer crypto prices.

The largest cryptocurrency by market cap rose 7% to $30,193.25 for the first time since June, according to Coin Metrics. The U.S. consumer price index and producer price index due Wednesday and Thursday, respectively – will be key in determining if or when the Fed will pause or put an end to its rate hiking campaign.

Meanwhile, ether has been climbing ahead of its planned "Shanghai" tech upgrade, which is expected to bring a wave of negative sell pressure on the market as previously locked funds on Ethereum are released over the next few weeks. It advanced more than 3.5% to $1,925.11 for the first time since August as investors ahead of the upgrade, scheduled for Wednesday.

For more details, check out our full story here.

— Tanaya Macheel

CNBC Pro: Tesla's shares are up over 70% this year. One market pro is bullish — but another isn't convinced

Shares of electric vehicle giant Tesla have risen more than 70% this year, after falling 65% in 2022 in its largest-ever annual decline.

So is it time to buy the stock? Two investors faced off on CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Wednesday.

Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Zavier Ong

China's inflation eases in March, producer prices decline further

China's inflation for March came in lower than expected at 0.7% against expectations of a 1% rise in its consumer price index compared to a year ago.

Producer price index also fell 2.5% year-on-year, in line with forecasts by Reuters and after seeing a decline of 1.4% in the previous month.

— Jihye Lee

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