Europe: Shares hold at 21-month highs, Micro Focus slides

[LONDON] A raft of well-received updates and a recovery in resources stocks helped European shares rebound early on Tuesday from the previous session's slight losses, although shares in Micro Focus dropped.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.3 per cent, holding at 21-month highs, while France's CAC 40 index gained 0.4 per cent, recouping some of its losses from Monday following centrist Emmanuel Macron's French presidential election victory.

Britain's Micro Focus was the biggest STOXX faller, slumping more than 12 per cent after saying that revenue at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, the US company it is buying, dropped around 10 per cent in the last quarter.

Elsewhere company results were in focus, with shares in Denmark's Nets rising 2.7 per cent following its first quarter earnings, and potash miner K+S also up 2 per cent after its update.

A rebound in basic resources stocks and gains among energy firms also helped support the market, with miners up after a rise in the underlying price of copper. Glencore was the biggest gainer, up 3.3 per cent.

REUTERS