LONDON: Stocks markets in Europe weakened on Tuesday, led lower by Wall Street, but London won support from a raft of positive company results and oil price gains.
Frankfurt stocks sagged 0.5 percent and Paris slumped 0.7 percent, while London nudged 0.2 percent higher in value.
The British capital's top gainer was homebuilder Taylor Wimpey, which announced enhancements to its shareholder dividend policy and lifted its financial targets.
In reaction, Taylor Wimpey's share price surged 4.65 percent in mid-afternoon trading.
Vodafone shares rallied 1.7 percent to 227.40 pence after the mobile phone giant reported its first underlying earnings growth in eight years.
London's resources-heavy FTSE 100 was also buoyed by oil prices striking recent multi-month high points, pushing close to $50.
Higher oil prices boost the energy sector because they translate into rising revenues and profits.
"Well-received corporate results and the price of oil near seven-month highs helped the FTSE 100," noted CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler.
"Telecom and housing stocks were top performers on the UK benchmark after Vodafone, Taylor Wimpey and Land Securities exceeded earnings expectations."
Meanwhile Britain's annual inflation rate slowed last month for the first time since September, as air fares slid and clothes stores cut prices, official data showed.
UniCredit economist Daniel Vernazza said the fall was "very likely to be temporary" but much hinged on the outcome of next month's Brexit referendum.
"If the UK votes to remain in the EU, as we expect, we can continue to expect inflation to gradually return towards the 2-percent target," he said in a note to investors.
Wall Street stocks opened lower, giving back some of the prior day's gains.
Shares in home improvement retailer Home Depot dipped despite better-than-expected earnings.
Elsewhere, most Asian markets climbed Tuesday as tech firms were aided by news of Warren Buffett's billion-dollar stake in Apple.
After last week's sell-off, US investors provided a blistering lead Monday with all three main indexes sharply higher, pumped up by news of Buffett's giant stake in the iPhone maker.
Apple, which has tumbled since it last month reported the first fall in sales of the popular smartphones, rallied 3.7 percent on the announcement.
And Asian suppliers to the firm followed suit, with Tokyo-listed Alps Electric, Japan Display and Taiyo Yuden enjoying strong gains. Hon Hai in Taipei added 0.4 percent.
Overall stock markets in the region were also broadly higher. Tokyo jumped more than one percent thanks to a further rally in the dollar against the yen, a day after rising 0.3 percent on reports of a possible delay in a sales tax increase.
Attention now turns to the release of Japan's first-quarter economic growth data on Wednesday.
"Markets seem to be in a relatively sweet spot with a steadily stronger US dollar and resilient commodities prices," said IG analyst Angus Nicholson in Melbourne.
"Many investors have been predicting a pullback in markets, but despite all the negativity markets have continued to grind higher."
- Key figures around 1345 GMT -
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London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 6,165.80 points
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.8 percent at 4,280.01
Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.5 percent at 9,903.83
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.4 percent at 2,940.12
Tokyo: Nikkei 225: UP 1.1 percent at 16,652.80 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 2,843.68 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.2 percent at 20,118.80 (close)
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 17,671.88
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1333 from $1.1318
Dollar/yen: UP at 109.13 yen from 109.06 yen
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