Most of the key European stock indexes closed in positive territory, helped by economic statistics from Germany and China. German DAX and French CAC 40 rose 0.35% and 0.48% respectively, British FTSE 100 fell 0.12%.

On Tuesday positive data was released on the German economy. Its investor confidence index, which stood at 23.3 points in December, jumped sharply to 16.9 points in January, Prime news agency said, citing the Center for European Economic Research. Inflation in the country fell 1.4 points in the same month from November to 8.6 percent. Statistics from China for the fourth quarter exceeded analysts' forecasts, but the results were weaker than before. GDP growth in annual terms was 2.9% against expectations of 1.8%, and remained at the same level in the quarter, although a decrease of 0.8% was predicted. Industrial production rose 1.3% in December, 1.1 percentage points above the forecast estimate. By comparison, it rose 2.2% in November.