European stocks traded firmly in the green early Tuesday as investors regained some optimism for tax cuts and fiscal stimulus from President Donald Trump and focused on improving fundamentals in the Eurozone economy.
The region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 index was marked 0.3% higher in the opening 30 minutes of trading, boosted by banking sector and basic resource shares. Britain's FTSE 100 was also trading higher, rising around 25 points to 7,315.2, although gains were somewhat limited by a stronger pound, which was quoted 0.1% higher at 1.2570 against the U.S. dollar.
Germany's DAX performance index traded 0.6% higher at 12,059.5 points while France's CAC-40, boosted by Credit Agricole (+2%) and Peugeot (+1.6%) was marked 0.23% higher.
Outside of the major markets, Ericsson (ERIC) shares were a significant mover, falling 3.5% to SEK56.99 each after it said it will take a much larger-than-expected restructuring hit as it seeks to steady its finances and realign its business model under new CEO Borje Ekholm.
The solid overall start follows gains in Asia trading overnight that were, again, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar, which continued to trade at early November lows after attempting a rebound in late New York trading on Tuesday. With the dollar index, a measure of the greenback's strength against a basket of six global currencies, trading at 99.02, investors moved cash into emerging market stocks and raw commodities, boosting benchmarks around the region.
The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was marked 0.57% higher by 06:45 GMT while Japan's Nikkei 225 rebounded from multi-week lows Monday to end the session 1.14% to the good at 19,202.87 points.
