Europe close: Modest gains for stocks
Stocks moved off their lows of the session to finish higher, with sentiment helped by positive corporate results overseas and despite further weak prints on economic activity in the euro area.
Nevertheless, and on a medium-term basis, some prominent analysts remained cautious.
In a research note sent to clients on Wednesday, strategists at Morgan Stanley said: "[We see] a high probability that global equities will make an important cyclical top this year. We are sceptical that changes in tax policy, technology or other factors will extend the current bull market's run materially.
"'Top is an emotionally charged word in markets. Two distinctions in our view are essential. First, we don't think what follows this peak will be anything like the drawdowns of 2000 or 2008, but rather a shallower, choppier decline. This would be consistent with the historical pattern of cyclical bear markets within a secular bull market, and also our global economic view. We discuss the distinction."
In any case, much stronger-than-expected quarterly results from their employer earlier in the day, US banking giant Morgan Stanley, put a bid into stocks, helping to offset the blow to sentiment from weak earnings out of tech giant IBM.
Against that backdrop, by the closing bell the benchmark Stoxx 600 was higher by 0.29% or 1.09 points to 381.86, with the Dax edging higher by just 0.04% or 5.26 points to 12,590.83, although the Cac-40 was up by 0.50% or 26.63 points to trade at 5,380.17.
Quiet significant as well, the news on the geopolitical front was rather positive too, amid reports of a secret early-April meeting between incoming US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Data out on the Continent come Wednesday was again on the weak side, with car registrations in the European Union down by 5.3% year-on-year in March after an increase of 4.3% in the month before, according to ACEA.
Those figures saw the Stoxx 600's Automobiles&Parts sector gauge drop 1.0% to 633.01, offset by big gains for Basic Resources - which shot higher by 4.31% - and Oil&Gas, which clocked in with an advance of 1.54%.
In parallel, euro area inflation picked-up to a 1.3% year-on-year pace last month, Eurostat said after revising lower its preliminary estimate by one tenth of a percentage point.
At the 'core' level meanwhile, the rate of gain in CPI was unchanged at 1.0% over the year.
Separately, Eurostat reported that construction output in the Eurozone declined by 0.5% month-on-month in February.
Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML posted a 16% drop in net income for its first quarter to €540m, which was down by 16% on the year before but was still ahead of analysts' forecasts. The company also guided towards a roughly 11.5% increase in sales during the following quarter.
In the automobiles space, Fiat Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne was cited saying the manufacturer was not in merger talks with German rival VW.
Meanwhile, France's Total said it would pay €1.4bn for a majority stake in Direct Energie, the electricity provider.