Europe close: Stocks gain as oil prices grind higher, Blackrock downgrades Europe
Higher oil prices helped prop-up stocks on the Continent, despite a raft of negative headlines on the economic front, with a widely-followed German survey of analysts revealing clear concern about the storm clouds that were gathering over global trade.
The German ZEW institute's economic sentiment index for July fell by 8.6 points to stand at -24.7 - its lowest level since August 2012 - amid "great political uncertainty", especially around the possible escalation of the trade war with the US, according to ZEW president Professor Achim Wambach.
Year-to-date ZEW's index had fallen by 45.1 points.
At the close, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.3% or 1.66 points higher to 386.25, alongside a gain of 0.53% or 65.96 points to 12,609.85 for the German Dax and an advance of 0.11% or 23.86 points to 22,057.30 for the FTSE Mibtel.
Euro/dollar meanwhile was down by 0.13% to 1.17350.
In parallel, September-dated Brent crude oil futures on the ICE were adding 0.75% to $78.66 a barrel, driving gains of 1.37% to 357.96 in the Stoxx 600's sector gauge of Oil&Gas stocks.
Investor sentiment was also buttressed by another day of gains in US equity markets, despite the cautious voices of multiple analysts, especially over recent day and weeks.
Echoing those warnings, in their Mid-Year Global Investment Outlook, Blackrock strategist Richard Turnhill downgraded his view on shares in Europe and Japan, while referencing fragmentation risks among the factors informing his view on the former.
"Steady global growth for the rest of 2018 with a strong U.S. growth extending positive spillover effects to the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the range of possibilities for the economic outlook has widened with the possibility of trade wars and/or inflation driven overheating that could incite a downshift. As such, market adjustments to these higher levels of uncertainty will be a key theme for the remainder of 2018," he said.
"Overall, this greater uncertainty − along with rising interest rates − has contributed to tightening financial conditions and argues for building greater resilience into portfolios."
To take note of, Chinese stocks advanced overnight, following the release of a higher-than-expected reading on factory gate inflation, although the country's currency, the yuan, was again on the back foot.
Other economic data published in the euro area on Tuesday was also on the weak side.
Earlier, INSEE ha reported a 0.2% decline in French industrial output during the month of May (consensus: 0.5%), as construction sector activity dropped by 3.4% and manufacturing production declined by 0.6%.
Growth in industrial output also fell shy of forecasts in Italy, where ISTAT reported a month-on-month rise of 0.7% (consensus: 0.8%), as production of durable consumer goods shrank by 1.2%.
Meanwhile, on the corporate front, Airbus boss Tom Enders called on Brussels and EU capitals to be similarly "pragmatic and fair" as HM Government when it came to Brexit.