Despite opening on a weak note, the major European markets ended on the positive side on Tuesday, although a mild bout of selling pressure during the final minutes wiped off some of their gains.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's warning that U.S. economic recovery remained far from complete hurt sentiment and resulted in some selling in the final hour.
While some positive economic data from the region aided sentiment, rising coronavirus cases continued to cause concerns.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.07%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.12%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.61% and France's CAC 40 ended 0.48% up, while Switzerland's SMI slipped 0.68%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and Spain closed on firm note.
Poland and Russia edged up marginally.
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey closed weak.
In the UK market, Rolls Royce Holdings soared nearly 26% after signing a deal to build a gas plant for Dhamra LNG in India.
TUI gained nearly 10%, Meggit moved up 8.5% and EasyJet gained nearly 8%. IAG ended nearly 7% up.
Carnival, Whitbread, Intercontinental, Barclays, British Land Company, ITV, Barratt Developments, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered and Royal Dutch Shell also rose sharply.
Ocadao Group tumbled nearly 9%. Rentokil Initial, Croda International, Intertek and Experian lost 2 to 4%.
In Germany, Thyssenkrupp surged up 7%. Lufthansa gained more than 6.5%, Deutsche Bank notched up about 5.6% and MTU Aero advanced 2.6%. Volkswagen, HeidelbergCement, Fresenius Medical Care and Siemens also ended with strong gains.
In the French market, Societe Generale gained more than 7%. Accor firmed up by over 6.5%, while Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Renault, Airbus, Sodexo and Safran gained 3.5 to 5.3%.
On the other hand, Dassault Systemes, Sanofi, Pernod Ricard, WorldLine and Air Liquide ended notably lower.
In economic news, German factory orders grew at a faster pace in August on robust foreign demand, data from Destatis revealed. Factory orders climbed 4.5% month-on-month, which was faster than the 3.3% rise in July and the 2.6% increase economists' had forecast.
On a yearly basis, manufacturing orders dropped at a slower pace of 2.2%, following a 6.9% decrease in July.
Germany's construction sector contracted further in September amid an ongoing decline in new orders and pessimistic expectations for activity over the year ahead, survey data from IHS Markit showed.
The construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 45.5 in September from 48.0 in August.
The UK construction sector registered a sharp expansion in September as new business grew the most since before the pandemic-induced lockdown, according to a private survey.
The IHS Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply construction Purchasing Managers' Index rose unexpectedly to 56.8 in September from 54.6 in August.
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