“I can see why the market has stabilized and it’s true that there are some slightly comforting factors. The Fed have been repriced down quite aggressively in the past few weeks and investor positioning is very defensive,” said Vincent Chaigneau, head of research at Generali Investments.
The benchmark STOXX 600 was headed for monthly losses, with banks set for a nearly 16 percent slump after the collapse of two U.S. mid-sized lenders and the takeover of Credit Suisse fuelled concerns about the health of the banking sector. German consumer sentiment is set to nudge up in April as energy prices have relented somewhat from record highs, though a full recovery is not in sight anytime soon, a GfK institute survey showed.
The wider tech index climbed 1.7 percent to lead sectoral gains, with other semiconductor stocks, including STMicroelectronics and AMS, also rising despite a downbeat forecast from U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology.Aroundtown fell 4.8 percent to a fresh record low after the German real estate company reported a full-year net loss of 457 million euros and said it was suspending dividend payout due to market uncertainties.