European stock markets mid session: stocks traded higher on Yellen’s comments

Stock indices traded higher on comments by the Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. She said in a speech on Monday that further interest rate hikes were appropriate as the U.S. labour market continued to strengthen and inflation was picking up toward 2% target.

Market participants also eyed the economic data from the Eurozone. Eurostat released its revised gross domestic product (GDP) data for the Eurozone on Tuesday. Eurozone's revised GDP rose 0.6% in first quarter, up from the preliminary reading of 0.5%, after a 0.4% gain in the fourth quarter.

On a yearly basis, Eurozone's revised gross domestic product (GDP) increased 1.7% in first quarter, up from the preliminary reading of 1.5%, after a 1.7% rise in the fourth quarter.

Household spending gained 0.6% in the first quarter, while gross fixed capital formation climbed 0.8%.

Exports climbed by 0.4% in the first quarter, while imports rose by 0.7%.

Destatis released its industrial production data for Germany on Tuesday. German industrial production rose 0.8% in April, exceeding expectations for a 0.7% gain, after a 1.1% decline in March. March's figure was revised up from a 1.3% decrease.

German industrial production excluding energy and construction climbed by 1.1% in April.

Current figures:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 6,319.54 +46.14 +0.74 %

DAX 10,302.31 +181.23 +1.79 %

CAC 40 4,484.23 +60.85 +1.38 %