European shares gain with focus on earnings, US shutdown deal

(Reuters) -European shares rose on Tuesday, as investors gauged a potential end to the longest U.S. government shutdown in history and assessed positive earnings from telecom companies including Vodafone and INWIT.

The pan-European STOXX 600 climbed 0.5% to touch a two-week high of 576.05 points by 0810 GMT.

Global stocks witnessed a strong start to the week, with those in Europe logging their biggest daily gain in six months on Monday, as traders were relieved that the end to the U.S. government shutdown could mean a restart of crucial official data releases.

The U.S. Senate passed a deal late on Monday that would restore U.S. federal funding and end the longest shutdown.

However, some caution lingered on the potential impact the lack of government funding so far could have had on the world’s largest economy.

Market focus was also on the corporate earnings season.

Shares of Vodafone gained 5%, lifting the broader telecommunications sector, after the British company upgraded its full-year forecast for both earnings and cash flow and returned to top-line quarterly growth in Germany.

On the flip side, INWIT slid 8.4% after Italy’s biggest mobile telecoms towers company lowered its revenue outlook for the following year despite a quarterly profit jump.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)