Bayer, clean energy stocks lift European equities for fourth day

By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - European stocks rose on Tuesday, as a jump in Bayer and clean energy stocks helped keep the momentum in markets a day after the United States and China announced a truce in their trade spat.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index rose 0.3% by 0838 GMT, trading at a six-week high and rising for a fourth straight session.

Global stocks surged on Monday after Beijing and Washington agreed to a 90-day pause on most of the tariffs imposed on each other in April, offering relief to investors worried about the trade war causing a global recession.

U.S. and European stock markets have recovered much of the losses induced by U.S. President Donald Trump's massive tariffs last month, but investors are concerned that still higher levies overall could weigh on the global economy.

"We've got to remember that the average tariff in the U.S. is still at levels we haven't seen since 1941. There are definitely concerns about a slowdown in trade," said Nick Saunders, CEO of leading stock trading platform Webull UK.

"In the short to medium term, investors are learning to mitigate these one-off announcements from the president. You have to assume that there is a long game being played here and it's not knee-jerk policy reactions."

Investors are awaiting U.S. consumer prices data for April later in the day to gauge the impact of higher tariffs on inflation. Euro zone inflation data and first-quarter flash GDP readings will be released later this week.

Among single stocks, Bayer jumped 9.6% after it posted a slower decline in first-quarter adjusted earnings than the market had feared as strong prescription numbers for new drugs offset a drop in its soy and cotton seed business.

Shares of European renewable energy firms Vestas and Orsted soared 11.8% and 4.6%, respectively, with traders saying that draft proposals by the U.S. lawmakers aiming to repeal some of the lucrative climate measures were not as bad as feared.

Portugal's EDP Renovaveis jumped 8.9% and Spain's Acciona Energia added 5%.

Germany's largest reinsurers, Munich Re and Hannover Re, dropped 3.6% and 3.3%, respectively, after they reported sharp declines in first-quarter profit after a combined 1.7 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in claims relating to the Los Angeles wildfires this year.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Mrigank Dhaniwala)