Investing.com - European stocks were higher on Tuesday, amid growing expectations for additional stimulus measures by the European Central Bank.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.50%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.46%, while Germany’s DAX 30 advanced 0.43%.
European equities strengthened amid mounting expectations that the ECB will launch a government bond-buying program at its meeting on Thursday, in a bid to stave off the threat of deflation in the euro area.
Investors remained cautious however amid uncertainty over the outcome of Greek elections, due to be held on Sunday, with anti-bailout party Syriza leading in the polls.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) jumped 1.18% and 2.52%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) rallied 1.58% and 1.35%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit climbed 0.79% and 1.54% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA rose 0.32% and 1.28%.
Elsewhere, SAP SE (OTC:SAPGF) plunged 4.59% after the German software company cut its 2017 profit target, saying that a shift to cloud software delivered over the Web has weighed on the company's margins.
In London, FTSE 100 advanced 0.46%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts higher.
Shares in Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) climbed 0.52% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) rallied 1.41%, while Barclays surged 1.60%. HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) held steady, inching down just 0.03%.
Energy-linked stocks added to gains on the commodity-heavy index. BP (LONDON:BP) shares advanced 0.95%. Bloomberg earlier reported thatlast week’s ruling that the company's Macondo well dumped less oil into the Gulf of Mexico than the U.S. government claimed may trigger a settlement before a decision on the amount it must pay after a trial set to begin this week.
Meanwhile, Petrofac led gains on the index, with shares soaring 5.15%, after the provider of oilfield services said it received an award notification for the first phase of Kuwait Oil Company's Lower Fars heavy oil development program, located in the north of the country.
In the mining sector, stocks were mixed. Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) saw shares rise 0.38% and Anglo American jumped 1.45%, while rivals Bhp Billiton and Rio Tinto declined 0.26% and 1.01% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.29% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.33% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.32% rise.
Also Tuesday, China’s gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 7.3% in the three months to December. Economists had expected growth to slow to 7.2% from 7.3% in the third quarter.
On a quarter-over-quarter basis, China’s economy slowed to 1.5% from 1.9% in the third quarter, compared to forecasts for 1.7%.
Later in the day, the ZEW Institute was to release its closely watched report on German economic sentiment.