RTRS: Europe shares end higher; telecoms, U.S. data help
European shares unofficially closed 1.8 percent up on Tuesday as Vodafone (VOD.L) led the telecom sector higher, while a rebound in U.S. housing data improved market sentiment.
The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares closed 14.33 points higher at 791.61 after having been down as much as 0.9 percent. It fell 2.4 percent in the previous session and had lost 45 percent last year.
Data showed that pending sales of existing U.S. homes rose in December for the first time since August, boosting markets in the United States and Europe. [ID:nN03281919]
"It's good to see positive news flow from the U.S. housing markets. This is encouraging as markets seem to react again to good news," said Philippe Gijsels, strategist at Fortis Bank in Brussels.
"Although on the corporate side news are set to remain bad and we're still in a bear market, this is a glimmer of hope," Gijsels added.
Telecoms were the biggest sectoral gainers, as Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone group by sales, rose 7 percent after the company hiked its full-year guidance and beat its own third-quarter revenue forecast. [ID:nL2694002]
Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), France Telecom (FTE.PA) and Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) were up between 4.2-7.3 percent.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 .FTSE index was up 2.1 percent, Germany's DAX .GDAXI was up 2.4 percent and France's CAC 40 .FCHI gained 1.8 percent. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz, editing by Atul Prakash)
