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Major European markets<\/span> closed higher on Tuesday with investors picking up stocks amid hopes several central banks will likely lower interest rates sooner than later. Concerns about geopolitical tensions limited markets’ upside a bit.<\/p>\n Investors awaited key European and U.S. inflation readings for directional cues.<\/p>\n Geopolitical tensions also remained in focus after Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time that “radical Islamists” were responsible for last week’s attack on a concert hall outside Moscow and that Ukraine was also somehow involved.<\/p>\n “We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries”, Putin said in a televised meeting.<\/p>\n The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.24%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended 0.17% up, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.67% and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.41%. Switzerland’s SMI settled 0.37% up.<\/p>\n Among other markets in Europe, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended higher.<\/p>\n Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Turkiye closed weak, while Austria, Belgium, Finland, Norway and Russia ended flat.<\/p>\n Kingfisher, Marks & Spencer, JD Sports Fashion, Standard Chartered, DS Smith, Easyjet, Howden Joinery and Mondi, gaining 2 to 4%, were among the top performers in the UK market.<\/p>\n Ocado Group shares climbed 2.75% after the company reported strong Q1 performance with 10.6% revenue growth year-on-year. Smiths Group shares gained about 2% after the company launched a \u00a3100m share buyback after posting strong half-year earnings results.<\/p>\n IHG, J Sainsbury, Airtel Africa, Phoenix Holdings, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Frasers Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Reckitt Benckiser, Burberry and Accociated British Foods also posted strong gains.<\/p>\n Auto Traders Group ended more than 4% down. Beazley, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, Experian, M&G, Croda International, Prudential, St. James’s Place and BP lost 1 to 2.3%.<\/p>\n In the German market, Puma, Vonovia, Infineon, E.ON, Volkswagen, Munich RE, Bayer, SAP, HeidelbergCement, Deutsche POst, Deutsche Boerse and Hannover Rueck advanced 1 to 2.3%.<\/p>\n Qiagen is down by about 2%. Covestro, Symrise and Siemens Energy also ended notably lower.<\/p>\n In Paris, Kering, Alstom, BNP Paribas, Renault, Vinci, Sanofi, Pernod Ricard, Unibail Rodamco, Safran, Credit Agricole, WorldLine, Eurofins Scientific, Saint Gobain, Edenred and Danone gained 1 to 3.3%.<\/p>\n In economic releases, a survey showed German consumer confidence is set to improve in April. The forward-looking consumer confidence index rose to -27.4 in April from revised -28.8 in March, according to a survey conducted by the market research group GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Spain’s economic growth improved at the end of the year, as initially estimated, final data from the statistical office INE showed.<\/p>\n Gross domestic product grew 0.6% from the third quarter, when output was up 0.4%. The rate came in line with the estimate published on January 30.<\/p>\n On a yearly basis, economic growth improved to 2%, as estimated, from 1.9% in the preceding period. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n