Investing.com - European stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday, supported by the release of strong Spanish employment and service sector data, although concerns over ongoing tensions in Ukraine continued to weigh.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.09%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.13%, while Germany’s DAX edged up 0.06%.
Official data earlier showed that the number of unemployed people in Spain dropped by 111,600 in April, compared to expectationd for a decline of 49,100, after a 16,600 fall the previous month.
Separately, Markit research group said that Spain's services purchasing managers' index rose to a six-year high of 56.5 last month, from a reading of 54.0 in March. Analysts had expected the index to tick up to 54.4 in April.
Investors still remained cautious after conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists grew more widespread over the weekend.
Financial stocks were mixed to higher, as Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) gained 0.66%, while French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) slipped 0.10% and 0.26%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) rose 035% and 0.77% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) added 0.22% and 0.30% respectively.
Elsewhere, UBS (SIX:UBSN) jumped 1.31% after the Swiss bank reported first-quarter net income of 1.05 billion Swiss francs, exceeding analysts' estimates.
Alstom (PARIS:ALSO) tumbled 1.35% as French President François Hollande said General Electric’s offer for the company’s energy unit is "not sufficient, so it’s not acceptable."
In London, FTSE 100 edged down 0.12%, weighed by losses in the financial sector.
Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) slipped 0.19% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) fell 0.25%, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) saw shares plunge 3.46% after the U.K lender said pretax profit dropped to £1.69 billion in the first quarter from £1.79 billion a year earlier, missing analysts' estimates.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) overperformed on the other hand, advancing 0.93%.
Mining stocks were also broadly lower, as Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) dropped 0.55% and Vedanta Resources (LONDON:VED) declined 0.74%, while rivals Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) plummeted 1.46% and 1.54% respectively.
Meanwhile, Persimmon (LONDON:PSN) led gains on the index, up 4.37%, after the housebuilding company received a "buy" rating from Citigroup.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.22% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.23% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.21% increase.
Later in the day, the euro zone was to produce data on retail sales, while the U.S. was to release data on trade.