Europe: Shares seek to extend bounce but trade woes weigh

[MILAN] European shares attempted to extend gains in early trading on Tuesday but uncertainty over a trade dispute between Washington and Beijing continued to keep investors on edge.

The STOXX 600 was up 0.1 per cent by 0733 GMT, as gains among oil majors on stronger crude prices offset a weaker basic materials sector. The pan-European index is up more than 1 per cent from the five-month lows hit last week.

Germany's exporter-heavy DAX index gained 0.1 per cent, while a stronger pound on bets of a Brexit deal weighed on the UK's FTSE 100, which was down 0.2 per cent.

Among single stocks, Amer Sports rallied 11 per cent on takeover talk. Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti cited a Bloomberg story saying Chinese firm Anta Sports Products was considering buying the Finnish company.

Ubisoft was another strong gainer, up 5.2 per cent with traders citing a broker upgrade, while solid updates pushed industrial equipment rental firm Ashtead and asset manager Partners Group up 3 and 4 per cent respectively.

Steel giant ArcelorMittal led fallers, down 2.7 per cent after it raised its bid for India's debt-laden Essar Steel in competition with Russia's VTB and Vedanta Resources.

REUTERS