12:25 PM EDT, 06/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher in Tuesday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.66%, the Swiss Market Index gained 0.30%, France's CAC increased 0.73%, the FTSE in London was up 0.63%, and Germany's DAX closed 0.31% higher.

The annual inflation rate was 2.6% in the euro area in May, up from 2.4% in April and down from 6.1% a year earlier, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. The EU's annual inflation rate was 2.7% in May, up from 2.6% in April and down from 7.1% a year earlier,

The highest annual rates were in Romania at 5.8%, Belgium at 4.9% and Croatia at 4.3%, while the lowest annual rates were in Latvia at 0.0%, Finland at 0.4% and Italy at 0.8%. Compared with April, annual inflation rose in 14 countries, fell in 11, and remained unchanged in two.

The EU will delay implementing global bank capital rules under Basel III by one year so the bloc's banks will not be disadvantaged by their US rivals, EU financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness said Tuesday, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank said Tuesday in a report that to secure European economic and financial resilience, a better integrated euro area internal market for financial services is necessary. The ECB said policy action is now "urgently needed to mobilize available savings, develop euro area bond and equity markets, and make these markets more attractive to foreign investors."

In Germany, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment nudged 0.4 points higher in its June survey to 47.5 from 47.1 in May. However, it also said the assessment of the economic situation in Germany has slightly deteriorated as the corresponding indicator fell 1.5 points to -73.8 points.

And in corporate news, HSBC's Swiss unit HSBC Private Bank failed to prevent money laundering in connection with two "politically exposed" persons and "seriously violated" financial market law, Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority Finma said Tuesday.

"HSBC takes its Anti-Money Laundering obligations very seriously including complying with all laws and regulations in every market we operate in," an HSBC spokesperson told MT Newswires. "As we plan to appeal the decision it would be inappropriate to comment further."

Spanish biopharmaceutical company Grifols said Tuesday it sold a 20% stake in blood products company Shanghai RAAS to Haier Group for 12.50 billion Chinese renminbi ($1.72 billion). The sale was made through a repurchase deal with Grifols retaining a 6.58% stake and a board seat.

The French finance ministry has asked a court to fine retailer Carrefour over contracts with franchisee stores that it says favored the company unfairly, according to Reuters. The ministry said in a statement that its investigations found practices that break the rules of the French Commercial Code, Reuters reported. Shares of Carrefour closed 4% lower in Tuesday trading in Paris.