INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
European shares treaded water on Tuesday following their strongest two-day rally since January as Brexit uncertainty clouded sentiment with
parliament deadlocked again over its exit from the European Union.
The pan-European index was up 0.03 per cent at 0720 GMT, nudging towards
highs from September and March.
Most European bourses posted slight gains and Britain's exporter-heavy FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent, helped
by a weaker sterling.
Global equities advanced on Monday, with STOXX posting its best gain in six weeks, after investors were encouraged by
upbeat manufacturing surveys out of China and the United States.
The strong data from two of the world's largest economies came on the
heels of fresh concerns over the health of the world economy after the US Federal Reserve abandoned plans for interest rates hikes this year
in a surprise move last month.
Meanwhile, Britain was no nearer to resolving the chaos surrounding its exit from the EU bloc after
parliament failed on Monday to find a majority of its own for any alternative to Prime Minister Theresa May's divorce deal.
May is due to
hold five hours of cabinet meetings with senior ministers on Tuesday to plan the government's next moves.
Capping gains on the pan-region
index were losses in auto stocks and basic resources, which declined for the first time in five sessions.
Mining stocks slid with BHP Group
dipping after the company said their initial estimates indicated iron ore production would take a hit of about 6 million to 8 million tonnes
from damage caused by cyclone Veronica last week.
Novartis AG shares fell 0.7 per cent after a US ruling that the Swiss drugmaker must face
a government lawsuit accusing it of paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to doctors so they would prescribe its drugs.
Prosiebensat rose
2.5 per cent, leading gains after HSBC upgraded the Germany-based advertising company's stocks.
Grenke AG rose 1.5 per cent after the
company reported an increase of 22 per cent in the new businesses in the first quarter.
Volvo rose 1.2 per cent after Goldman Sachs
initiated its rating on the company with "buy."
Tyre-maker Pirelli rose 0.3 per cent after the company said it saw a positive impact of 107
million euros in first half from recognition of tax credits in Brazil
