Europe close: Stocks extend gains

(Sharecast News) - European markets extended gains on Tuesday as an upbeat business survey from Germany boosted sentiment, even as investors digested the prior session's rally on Wall Street. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index added 0.67% to 552.59 with Germany's DAX up 1.13% at 23,109.79.

Gains in the latter followed the release of a survey from the Munich-based Ifo Institute showing a rise in confidence on the back of Berlin's plans for €500bn of outlays on defence and infrastructure.

The Ifo business climate index rose to 86.7 from 85.3 in February, as expected. The current situation index rose to 85.7 in March from 85.0 the month before, while the expectations index increased to 87.7 from 85.6.

Meanwhile investors and traders were trying desperately to decipher Trump's latest pronouncements on tariffs, with reciprocal levies set to be introduced on April 2 amid contradictory hints from the president that not all levies would come into force while some countries could be given a break.

"More confusion. Remember yesterday the narrative was 'sectoral tariffs may not be on the table, stocks rally'? Well Trump has indicated that just ain't so. Trump said he will soon announce tariffs targeting automobiles and pharmaceuticals, later adding lumber and semiconductor industries to his list of sectors due some levies," said TipRanks analyst Neil Wilson.

"It was unclear whether this would be part of the reciprocal tariffs, which are set for April 2nd. In fact, it's all very unclear. Later he said he 'may give a lot of countries breaks' on the reciprocal tariffs."

In equity news, shares in oil giant Shell gained 1% as the company unveiled plans to increase investor returns, cut spending and lift liquified natural gas sales targets.

UK based home improvement retailer Kingfisher plummeted 14% on a weak earnings outlook for 2025/26, citing government budget measures in the UK and France which could raise costs and further hit already fragile consumer confidence.

Germany-based lubricant supplier Fuchs jumped 3% after the release of its results.