EU equities retreat

European equities limped forward on Tuesday in a low-volume session as investors remained cautious following China’s decision to raise interest rates on Saturday.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index still crawled up 0.1% to 1,138.79, however, paring some of the 0.9% losses in the previous session.
One of the biggest gainers on the Eurofirst index was Alcatel-Lucent, the telecommunications equipment manufacturer, which rose after it agreed to pay US authorities $137m to resolve allegations that it bribed Latin American and Asian government officials to win telecoms contracts.
US authorities alleged that Alcatel subsidiaries paid $14m in phony consulting contracts as part of the bribery scheme and made illicit payments to officials in Honduras, Taiwan and Malaysia, from 2001 through to 2006.
Investors greeted the news positively, with shares in the company rising 1.6%.
Elsewhere in Europe, Tenaris, the specialist steel pipe maker fell 2.5% after Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “outperform” on valuation grounds.
ArcelorMittal, the French steelmaker, also lost ground falling 0.4%.