MILAN/FRANKFURT: Gains in financial services and chemical sectors helped European stocks rise on Tuesday after two straight sessions of declines, with Swiss wealth manager UBS jumping after posting a surge in quarterly net profit.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.8%, with the German DAX gaining 1.5%, France’s CAC 40 up 1.1% and UK’s FTSE 100 adding 0.7%.

Chemical stocks gained the most among sectors as industrial gas producer Linde rose 3.7% after announcing an increase to its quarterly dividend and a $5-billion share buyback programme.

UBS gained 2.5% as high levels of client activity helped the world’s largest wealth manager record a 137% rise in net profit.

The broader financial services index was up 1.7%. Swedish buyout group EQT jumped 11.7% after it signed a deal to buy global real estate investment manager Exeter Property Group for $1.87 billion.

The STOXX 600 tumbled to a two-week low on Monday after data painted a gloomy picture of the European economy in January as many countries tighten curbs to combat new variants of the coronavirus.

Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.8% with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte set to resign later in the day on hopes President Sergio Mattarella will give him a mandate to form a new government with broader backing in parliament.

Spanish pharmaceutical company PharmaMar jumped 15% after peer review journal Science published a paper that confirmed its drug Plitidepsin has a “potent preclinical efficacy” against the COVID-19.