Europe close: Stocks reverse early losses

Shares on the Continent reversed early losses as the latest economic data from across the Pond surprised to the upside, with better-than-expected corporate results also boosting investor sentiment.

But the main impetus came from the sharp gains in the oil patch, even as investors mulled the potential fallout from Washington's decision on Monday not to extend waivers from sanctions for a raft of countries who import oil from Iran.

During the previous session, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had announced the Trump administration's decision to push Tehran's oil exports to zero, although some reports were indicating that Beijing and New Delhi were still trying to negotiate extensions to their waivers.

"The US removal of waivers is just one of a string of recent supply concerns hitting the oil market. Adding to strains, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz - a key gateway for Middle East oil to the rest of the world," said analysts at Danske Bank.

Indeed, Barclays now saw an increased risk of a potential conflict in the Middle East.

But as Danske pointed out "risk sentiment has held up reasonably well so far in the wake of the sustained oil uptick, with major equity indices little changed over the Easter period."

By the end of trading, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.23% higher at 391.35, while the German Dax had added 0.11% to 12,235.51.

Spain's Ibex 35 was the laggard across the Channel, finishing down by 0.57% to 9,527.20 amid reports that general elections scheduled for 28 April might result in a hung Parliament.

Oil&Gas was pacing gains, with the Stoxx 600 sector gauge adding 2.03%; according to analysts at Barclays Research, recent developments implied "material" upside to their forecast for Brent to average $70 a barrel in 2019, but not on longer time frames.

For their part, Capital Economics jacked up its year-end 2019 projection for the price of Brent from $50 a barrel to $60.

Healthcare stocks also did well, adding 1.42%.

Going the other way, companies in the Basic Resources space were lower by 0.10% after a statement from China's Politburo, on Friday, was interpreted as signaling less need for sustained policy stimulus.

But it was lenders' shares which fared worst, with a sub-index tracking the space falling by 1.03%.

Politics was also in focus further East, after Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelensky made off with over 73% of the ballots cast in a run-off election against incumbent Petro Poroshenko.

Investors were also keeping a nervous eye on Westminster amid expectations for talks between the government and Labour to restart following the Easter break, even as Tory backbenchers were said to be mulling changes in their own party's rules that would allow them to oust the Prime Minister.

On the economic front in the euro area, the European Commission's consumer confidence index for April printed at -7.9, down from a reading of -7.3 for the month before (consensus: -7.0).

In the States meanwhile, according to the Department of Commerce, US new home sales bounded ahead at a month-on-month clip of 4.5% to reach an annualised pace of 692,000 (consensus: 645,000).

Dutch grocer Ahold was under the cosh after announcing to shareholders that the strike at over half of its US Stop&Shop stores in mid-April would wipe off between $90-$110m from its underlying operating profits.

Wirecard AG overcame early losses triggered by the expiry of a ban on short-selling the company's shares.

French auto parts maker Faurecia reiterated its forecasts for sales to grow faster than the rest of the market in 2019, but its shares dipped.

Novartis was also higher, erasing early losses on the back of news that the death of a baby might be tied to clinical trials for its gene therapy Zolgensma.