LONDON: European stock markets advanced on Tuesday as investors welcomed the confirmation of Janet Yellen as head of the US Federal Reserve, alongside brighter eurozone economic data, dealers said.
London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies added 0.36 percent to 6,755.12 points and in Paris the CAC 40 climbed 0.38 percent to 4,243.56 in afternoon deals.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 index rose 0.58 percent to 9,482.40 points, with sentiment helped by upbeat German unemployment data.
Overnight, the US Senate confirmed Yellen as the new leader of the Federal Reserve, marking the first time a woman has headed the world's most powerful central bank.
"Yellen's confirmation as the head of the US central bank has put the markets at ease," said David Madden, market analyst at trading firm IG.
"The new chairwoman is a safe pair of hands and, although she will not allow the markets to dictate her policies, she is unlikely to do anything too drastic in the early stages of her leadership."
President Barack Obama's nominee earned bipartisan support and will replace Ben Bernanke, who steps down on January 31 after eight years in the job.
Yellen takes over after Fed policymakers decided at their December meeting to taper the US central bank's vast $85-billion-per-month stimulus policy by $10 billion this month.
European markets were boosted also by news of stable unemployment in eurozone powerhouse Germany.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Germany increased by 66,640 to 2.873 million in December, official data showed Tuesday.
That pushed the unemployment rate -- which is the number of people out of work measured against the total of all people in jobs or available for work -- up to 6.7 percent from 6.5 percent the month before.
However, the increase was solely due to seasonal factors, such as lay-offs during the Christmas period.
Separate data showed that official eurozone inflation eased to 0.8 percent in December from 0.9 percent in November.
Meanwhile Ireland, which exited an EU-IMF bailout last month, went to the markets on Monday and brokers said demand for Irish sovereign debt easily exceeded expectations though nothing was announced officially.
This softened eurozone debt prices on the secondary markets with Spanish benchmark yields down to 3.81 percent from 3.905 percent on Monday and Italy pulling back to 3.885 percent from 3.940 percent.
Germany and France were also lower.
US stocks opened higher, helped by a strong November trade report showing the US deficit at its narrowest point in four years.
Five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 80.65 points (0.49 percent) at 16,505.75.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 7.82 (0.43 percent) at 1,834.59, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite added 21.37 (0.52 percent) at 4,135.05.
Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday, with bargain-hunting lifting some bourses but Tokyo dropping again following heavy losses in the previous session due to a stronger yen.
In foreign exchange activity on Tuesday, the European single currency eased to $1.3627 from $1.3629 late in New York on Monday. The dollar rose to 104.51 yen against 104.19 yen.
The euro dipped to 83.05 pence from Monday. The British pound gained to $1.6407 from $1.6402.
Turkey was again in the spotlight following overnight government action against senior security officials probing corruption, and some analysts warned that the rising tensions may force the central bank to raise its interest rates.
Fitch ratings agency warned: "If the corruption scandal drags on, it could weaken the government and undermine its ability to take timely measures that would maintain economic stability."
The Turkish lira meanwhile held close to Monday's record lows versus the dollar, as Turkey's high-level corruption scandal continued to hurt investor confidence.
Gold prices fell to $1,237.50 an ounce from $1,246.25 on Monday on the London Bullion Market.
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