Italy outperforms Europe stocks on coalition hopes Europe Markets

Getty Images

Italian political advisor of the M5S Five Star political movement, Davide Casaleggio (C) and Italys Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede face reporters as they leave following a meeting of the M5S movement on August 26, 2019 in Rome.

Italian stocks on Tuesday gained ground, aided by hopes that a new government can be formed without an election.

The Italy FTSE MIB /zigman2/quotes/210598024/delayed IT:I945 -0.31% rose 1.14% to 20913.64.

Reports indicated that the 5-Star Movement was on the cusp of reaching a deal with the Democratic Party to form a new coalition. If an election is held instead, an automatic VAT increase is triggered.

Elsewhere in Europe, stocks turned higher. The German DAX /zigman2/quotes/210597999/delayed DX:DAX -0.16% rose 0.38% to 11701.99 and the French CAC 40 /zigman2/quotes/210597958/delayed FR:PX1 -0.22% gained 0.18% to 5360.40.

The U.K. FTSE 100 /zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed UK:UKX -0.33% declined 0.21% to 7080.23 after a three-day break.

After a 269-point advance for the Dow industrials /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA -0.20% on Monday, U.S. stock futures /zigman2/quotes/209948968/delayed ES00 +0.10% were a bit higher.

Focus stocks

Deutsche Boerse /zigman2/quotes/205502669/delayed DE:DB1 -1.30% shares fell 1.9% as the exchange operator revealed a tax probe.

Insulation maker Rockwool International /zigman2/quotes/200482992/delayed DK:ROCK.B -3.97% dropped 4%, extending losses after cutting guidance.

Airport operator Flughafen Zurich /zigman2/quotes/208931828/delayed CH:FHZN -0.56% rose after reporting a first-half profit rise of 10% and saying its annual profit will grow 5%. It also reduced its passenger growth guidance to 2% growth from 3% growth.

/zigman2/quotes/210598024/delayed