European shares rose on Tuesday, driven by a rally in British equities catching up to Europe's gains on Monday, though volume was low and other eurozone markets fell as weak demand at an Italian bond auction and a slump in US consumer data weighed. British banks were one of the main performers on the upside. Royal Bank of Scotland was the top riser, up 7.9 percent, boosted by a Deutsche Bank upgrade to "buy" from "hold".
Worries about the eurozone peripheral debt crisis, however, left Italian banks among the bottom performers after a bond auction in Italy drew weak demand. Intesa Sanpaolo fell 2 percent. "The negative has been the Italian bond auction, which is a concern," Andrea Williams, who manages $2.1 billion in assets for Royal London Asset Management, said.
"It shows a lack of action by the European politicians to try and resolve the issue." The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares provisionally closed up 0.9 percent at 939.08 points, but volume was only 75.2 percent of its 90-day daily average - suggesting there was a lack of conviction behind the rally.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.