On Tuesday, the European stocks are noting an increase as confident Chinese data and positive corporate news from Italy spurred risk appetite.
During European morning trade, EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.07%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.80%, while Germany's DAX 30 added 0.86%.
Earlier, China's positive data that beat forecasts, reinforced optimism about the strength of the second largest economy in the world.
The volume of retail sales in November rose 10.8%, exceeding the consensus forecast of growth by 10.1%, while industrial production in China during the same period has grown by 6.2%, against the forecast at 6.1%.
In Europe, the index of economic sentiment in Germany by ZEW fell short of expectations in December, but the current business conditions index jumped to the highest level since September 2015.
The economic sentiment in the Eurozone as a whole was up, getting to 18.1, while the expected growth was to 16.5.
In the UK, annual inflation rose more than expected, rising to 1.2% amid a weak pound.
As for the stock market, the shares of Mediaset rose 20% after the rival company Vivendi (PA: VIV) announced plans to increase the share in the Italian broadcaster, causing a possible speculation on aquisition.
Among Italian banks, Unicredit shares jumped more than 7% on the statement of the issue of shares in the amount of € 13 billion ($ 13.8 billion) in order to strengthen the balance sheet.
At the same time, oil prices stabilized after a strong rally in the previous session, as a result of which prices peaked from mid-2015.
Energy sector stocks mostly rose: the French oil giant Total SA (PA: TOTF) rose 0.11%, Italian ENI (MI: ENI) rose 0.95%, while the Norwegian Statoil (OL: STL) fell 0.32%.
The financial sector was mixed. BNP Paribas (PA: BNPP) rose 1.20%, Societe Generale (PA: SOGN) rose 1.46%, while Commerzbank (DE: CBKG) gained 0.07% and Deutsche Bank (DE: DBKGn) rose 2.61%.
Among the peripheral lenders, the Italian Intesa Sanpaolo (MI: ISP) and Unicredit (MI: CRDI) jumped 1.88% and 7.26%, while Spanish BBVA (MC: BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC: SAN) rose 1.68% and 1.33% respectively.
The London FTSE 100 index rose 0.39%, despite the weakness of the mining sector.
The stocks of Glencore (LON: GLEN) fell 1.27%, shares of Anglo American (LON: AAL) eased 1.24%, while shares of BHP Billiton (LON: BLT) and Rio Tinto (LON: RIO) fell 1.61% and 1.52% respectively.
The financial sector registered a growth. Thus, the shares of HSBC Holdings (LON: HSBA) rose 0.64%, shares of Royal Bank of Scotland (LON: RBS) grew by 0.56%, while Barclays shares (LON: BARC) and Lloyds Banking (LON: LLOY) lost 0.80% and 0.56% respectively.