By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
ARM Holdings climbs after earnings report
European stock markets moved sharply higher for a second
straight day on Tuesday on the back of some well-received corporate
updates, shaking off jitters about Greece.
Investors were waiting for the closely watched German ZEW
economic sentiment survey to be released later in the morning.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rallied 1.2% to 411.89, building on a
0.8% gain from Monday. Most European benchmarks kicked off the week
on a strong footing, boosted by China's move to stimulate the
economy and largely ignoring concerns about Greece's slow progress
in renegotiating a reform program with its lenders.
Greek woes: Greece needs to agree on a range of economic
overhauls with the lenders in order to receive the next much-needed
tranche of bailout and avoid running out of cash. On Monday, Athens
ordered public entities including state-owned companies and public
pension funds to transfer cash reserves to the central bank
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-orders-public-bodies-to-transfer-cash-to-central-bank-2015-04-20),
a move that comes as Greece scrambles with finding money it needs
to service debt.
The Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers meets on Friday to
discuss the Greek bailout, but few expect a major breakthrough in
talks. A top EU official has given Greece a deadline of the
Eurogroup meeting on May 11
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/top-eu-official-to-greece-agree-to-reform-by-may-11-or-else-2015-04-17)
to agree on a reform plan or potentially face a default.
Greece's Athex Composite index lost 1.1% to 720.75 on
Tuesday.
Other markets: Germany's DAX 30 index moved back above the
12,000 mark, trading 1.4% higher at 12,057.52.
France's CAC 40 index gained 1% to 5,238.25, while the U.K.'s
FTSE 100 index added 0.6% to 7,091.78.
Data: On a quiet data day, the highlight is Germany's ZEW index
for April, due at 10 a.m. London time, or 5 a.m. Eastern Time.
Analysts at Société Générale expect a decline to 49.6 in economic
sentiment after five straight months of increases.
"This follows an already weaker than expected outcome of 54.8 in
March, as the positive news flow has been petering out somewhat and
more realistic expectations of growth set in after a stellar Q1,"
they said in a note.
Earnings: Shares of ARM Holdings PLC (ARMHY) jumped 3.7% after
the chip designer reported a 36% rise in first-quarter net profit
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/arms-profit-lifted-by-strong-smartphone-demand-2015-04-21).
SAP SE put on 2.5% after the software company reported a 22%
rise in first-quarter revenue
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sap-profit-down-23-after-cloud-move-2015-04-21)
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sap-profit-down-23-after-cloud-move-2015-04-21)
and a 23% fall in profit.
Shares of Actelion Ltd. put on 4.1%. The Swiss biotech firm
reported a 25% rise in first-quarter profit and raised full-year
core-earnings guidance
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/actelion-lifts-full-year-guidance-as-profit-up-25-2015-04-21).
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