European Shares Bounce Back on Trade Talks, With Eyes on Italy

(Bloomberg) -- European shares bounced back from Monday’s drop, which was the largest in three weeks, lifted by a resumption of trade talks. Italy will again be in focus.

The Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.5 percent, with all the subgroups gaining except for oil shares as President Donald Trump took aim at Saudi Arabia’s plan to cut oil production. Telecom Italia Spa rose 3 percent as its Chief Executive Officer Amos Genish was said to resign.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu have resumed talks on trade, and a potential Washington visit by Liu is being considered, helping to ease tariff war concerns. Today is also the deadline for Italy to submit a revised 2019 budget to the European Commission after its first plan was rejected. Local newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore reported that changing the 2.4 percent deficit target, as the commission has signaled the country should do, is out of the question.

“All seems more calm today,” Ignacio Cantos, investment director at ATL Capital in Madrid, said by phone. “The market would very much welcome any gesture from Italy to tone down their plans and come closer to an agreement with the EU.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Macarena Munoz in Madrid at mmunoz39@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Beth Mellor at bmellor@bloomberg.net, Jon Menon

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