Italian bank stocks drive Europe higher

The European stocks markets witnessed a quiet open this Tuesday, subsequently staging a minor-rebound towards 11-month tops, as the sentiment was lifted by a rally in the Italian banking sector stocks.

The shares of the Italian banks surged after the country’s biggest lender, UniCredit, unveiled a strategic restricting plan, in a bid to bolster its balance sheet. UniCredit soared 7% as the lender planned to cut an additional 6,500 jobs by 2019, sell shares and a large chunk of bad debt as part of the restructuring.

Moreover, upbeat Chinese macro news combined with 100% odds of a Fed rate hike tomorrow, keeps the sentiment around the European equities somewhat buoyed.

While renewed buying interest seen in oil prices, after IEA upped 2016 and 2017 global oil demand forecasts, also adds to the upbeat tone seen in the markets. Further, markets also cheered upbeat German ZEW surveys and UK CPI report.

Meanwhile, Germany's DAX 30 index jumps +0.80% to 11,278 levels, while the UK's FTSE 100 index trades +0.12% higher at 6,898. Among the other indices, the French CAC 40 index rises +0.62% to 4,790, while the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index rallies +0.92% to 3,230 points.