UKX FTSE 100 Index

By William Watts, MarketWatch

European equities ended a choppy session with gains Tuesday as bond yields in Italy and the U.S. paused their rise.

What are major indexes doing?

The pan-European STOXX 600 ended 0.72 point higher at 372.93, a gain of 0.2%

In London, the FTSE 100 finished 0.1% higher at 7,237.59, while in Paris, the CAC 40 stock index advanced 0.4% to 5,318.55 and Germany's DAX rose 0.3% to close at 11,977.22.

European stocks fell sharply on Monday, with Italy's FTSE MIB index dropping more than 2% as Italian bond yields soared and the spread between Italian and German bond yields widened, putting heavy pressure on bank shares. On Tuesday, the Italian equity benchmark index rose 1.1%.

Read:Here's why investors remain uneasy about Italy's banks and the 'doom loop' (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-investors-remain-uneasy-about-italys-banks-and-the-doom-loop-2018-10-08)

What drove markets

Nervous investors continue to keep an eye on rising global bond yields. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note briefly pushed to a new seven-year high (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-year-treasury-yield-nudges-to-seven-year-high-above-325-2018-10-09) Tuesday above 3.25% after U.S. bond markets were closed Monday for a holiday. The yield eventually turned lower, however, while U.S. equities flipped between gains and losses. Yields and debt prices move in opposite directions.

Italian bonds saw choppy trade, with yields extending a rise in early action before retreating to end the day lower.

What stocks were moving

Among the positive sectors, oil stocks rose as crude prices bounced back from the previous day's weakness. Total SA (TOT) rose 1.4%, while shares of BP (BP.LN) rose 0.4%

Drug stocks were a drag on the European index, with Roche Holding Ltd. (ROG.EB) down 0.2% and Novozymes AS down 1.4%.

Shares of Airbus SE (AIR.FR) declined 1.1%, a day after the company tapped the head of its plane-making unit, Guillaume Faury, to succeed Tom Enders as chief executive in April, pending shareholder approval.

Shares of Sage Group PLC (SGE.LN) shed 1.5% in London after Barclays cut the software group to underweight.

-- Barbara Kollmeyer contributed to this article

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 09, 2018 13:37 ET (17:37 GMT)

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