12:10 PM EDT, 03/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets were tracking mostly higher in Tuesday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.44%, Germany's DAX increased 0.86%, the FTSE 100 in London was up 0.16%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.46%, while the Swiss Market Index was off 0.17%.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany recorded "strong growth in expectations" in its March 2025 survey, rising by 25.6 points to 51.6 from the previous month. ZEW said it was the largest monthly increase since January 2023.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, reported Tuesday that preliminary estimates showed the euro area recorded a 1.0 billion-euro ($1.09 billion) surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world in January 2025.

And in corporate news, German pharmaceutical company Biofrontera said Tuesday that it has completed patient enrollment for the phase 3 trial of Ameluz for the treatment of mild to moderate actinic keratoses on the extremities, neck and trunk.

TC BioPharm said Tuesday that it is planning to outsource various functions and switch to a "more decentralized" model, resulting in a workforce reduction of 20 employees. The Scottish biopharmaceutical company said it plans to implement a contract development and manufacturing organization model for production and will consider options for new production sites using newly developed automated and other cell therapy production technologies.

VEON and Cohen Circle Acquisition said Tuesday they have signed a business combination agreement that will result in the listing of Ukrainian digital operator JSC Kyivstar on the Nasdaq. VEON will own at least 80% of Kyivstar Group, the parent company of Kyivstar, after the completion of the business combination, the companies said.