(RTTNews.com) – European stocks are inching higher on Tuesday, with resource stocks outperforming, after twin manufacturing PMI surveys from China added to recent signs that the world’s second-biggest economy is stabilizing.
The latest survey from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that activity in China’s vast manufacturing sector continued to expand in October, and at a much faster pace, with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.2. The Caixin manufacturing PMI rose to 51.2 in October, marking the fastest pace of improvement since March 2011.
Meanwhile, with the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Bank of Japan holding rates steady, as widely expected, investors now look ahead to meetings from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England for further direction.
Miners Anglo American
, BHP Billiton, Glencore and Rio Tinto are up 1-2 percent, boosted by encouraging manufacturing data out of China.
Royal Dutch Shell shares are rallying 3 percent as the Anglo-Dutch multinational oil firm swung to a third-quarter profit and announced an interim dividend.
Rival BP Plc shares are down 2 percent. The company’s third-quarter profit nearly halved amid a slump in oil prices.
Novartis is marginally higher after the U.S. FDA granted priority review status for its drug LEE011 (ribociclib) used in the treatment of advanced breast cancer.
Syngenta shares are declining half a percent after ChemChina extended its $ 43 billion cash offer for the Swiss agrichemicals group to Jan. 5.
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Plantations International