Business Results Lead European Shares Higher

European markets opened the session higher, as global sentiment was unexpectedly boosted by interest payments from debt-laden China’s Evergrande Group, while L’Oréal’s strong earnings and tech shares further supported it.

The Stoxx 600 index of European shares rose 0.2%, while Asian shares rose after news that the Chinese real estate developer transferred money to pay interest on dollar bonds, days before the expiration of a deadline that would have entered the troubled company into an official default.

The European Personal and Home Goods Index and Technology Stock Index were among the top gainers, each gaining 0.7%.

Shares of French cosmetics company L’Oreal rose 5.4%, after it reported strong profit growth thanks to demand for its luxury products and growth in China.

Shares of France’s Renault fell 1.2%, after the automaker said production losses this year would be much larger than previously expected due to a global shortage of chips.