European stocks higher; U.K. index leads as German consumer confidence slips

investing.com:

Investing.com — European stock markets traded higher Tuesday, with the U.K. leading the way after returning from holiday, even after German consumer confidence weakened. 

At 03:40 ET (07:40 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.4% higher, the CAC 40 in France climbed 0.4% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose 1.5%.

German consumer confidence likely remained weak in September, with the forward-looking GfK consumer climate index coming in at -25.5, data showed earlier Tuesday, slipping slightly from August’s revised -24.6.

The dominant German economy is struggling, suffering from a deepening downturn in manufacturing output, with data last week showing that the eurozone’s largest economy recorded no growth in the second quarter.

That said, European markets have taken positive cues from Wall Street, with these gains spilling over into Asian trade. The benchmark U.K. index is leading the way, catching up with the gains seen on Monday when London was on holiday.

Traders are also awaiting the release of consumer prices for August, with the eurozone CPI expected to register a small drop in the annual release to 5.1%, from 5.3% in July. 

The European Central Bank next meets in September, and this economic slowdown could prompt the central bank to pause its tightening cycle in September. However, with inflation still way above its 2% medium-term target another 25 basis point hike is still likely before the end of the year.

The quarterly earnings season is gradually coming to a close, but NN Group (AS:NN) stock advanced 10% after the Dutch insurer said its capital position had improved in the first six months of 2023.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL) stock advanced 3.7% after the British business supplies distributor raised its annual adjusted