Investing.com - European stocks were higher on Tuesday, as speculation over additional easing measures by the European Central Bank continued to support, although concerns over tensions in Ukraine persisted.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 advanced 0.34%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.23%, while Germany’s DAX climbed 0.55%.
European equities remained supported after the ECB indicated last week that it could begin to ease monetary policy as soon as its next meeting in June, to combat persistently low inflation in the euro zone.
But investors remained cautious after pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk formally asked the Moscow to annex the region like it did with Crimea.
Financial stocks were mixed, as BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) declined 0.64% and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) jumped 1.04% in France, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) rose 0.39%.
Earlier in the day, Societe Generale said it will seek to increase return on equity, a measure of profitability, to more than 10% by 2016.
Among peripheral lenders, Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) slid 0.63% and Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) climbed 0.83% in Italy, while Spain's BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) added 0.02% and 0.28% respectively.
Elsewhere, Thyssenkrupp (XETRA:TKAG) said 2014 profit will almost double from last year, sending shares up 4.31%. The German steelmaker also said first-quarter earnings rose to €269 million from a loss of €129 million a year earlier.
Airbus Group (PARIS:AIR) added to gains, surging 4.67%, as the French planemaker reported that first-quarter earnings fell to €700 million euros in the first quarter, still beating the €659 million average estimate.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose 0.30%, supported by sharp gains in the mining sector.
Shares in Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) climbed 0.94% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) jumped 1.50%, while rivals Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) and Antofagasta (LONDON:ANTO) rallied 1.38% and 1.63% respectively.
In the financial sector, stocks were also mostly higher. HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) inched up 0.04% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) rose 0.34%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) gained 0.95% after saying that its Citizens Financial Group filed for a $100 million IPO in New York.
Barclays (LONDON:BARC) underperformed on the other hand, with shares declining 0.45%.
Meanwhile, EasyJet (LONDON:EZJ) was the worst performer on the index, down 5.92%, after the airline carrier said its half-year loss shrank more than expected.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.15% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.14% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.16% increase.
Later in the day, the ZEW Institute was to release its closely watched report on German economic sentiment. The U.S. was to produce data on retail sales, as well as reports on import prices and business inventories.