Europe: Shares get support from Yellen comments

[LONDON] European shares advanced in early trading on Tuesday, mirroring gains on Wall Street and in Asia after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen dropped a reference to the timing of any increase in US interest rates in her latest speech.

Ms Yellen's remarks followed Friday's monthly jobs report that raised concerns over the ability of the economy to absorb a rate hike as early as June.

The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 and the FTSEurofirst 300 equity indexes were both up 1 per cent by 0711 GMT.

Germany's DAX outperformed the market, with the index rising 1.3 per cent after data showed that German industrial output rose more than expected in April, suggesting that the motor of Europe's largest economy was humming along at the start of the second quarter.

Shares in Natixis rose 3.5 per cent, the top gainer in the FTSEurofirst 300 index, after Jefferies started the coverage of the company with a "buy" rating.

REUTERS