Investing.com – European stock markets extended their rally on Tuesday while global stock markets reached record highs as a wave of relief over the first-round French presidential election results continued to sweep through equity markets.
Nearing midday trade in Europe, the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0.25%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.15% while Germany’s DAX 30 inched up 0.03%.
After the largely expected victory of centrist Emmanuel Macron in the first round of voting, polls also predict that he will become the French President by a comfortable margin in the final runoff with far-right, euro-skeptic Marine Le Pen on May 7, easing fears over a possible French exit from the euro zone.
In a session lacking in major economic reports, French business confidence unexpectedly increased in April, hitting its highest level in almost six years.
On the company front, Christian Dior (PA:DIOR) surged more than 10% as luxury goods group LVMH (PA:LVMH) and billionaire businessman Bernard Arnault announced Tuesday that they would buy the shares in the firm that they do not already own.
In other corporate movements, Credit Agricole (PA:CAGR) said it was interesting in buying three Italian savings banks though the French financial institution added that the project was still “in the very early stages”.
European earnings out Tuesday gave a mixed reading with Whitbread (LON:WTB) leading the Stoxx 600 lower with losses of around 7% as the British hotel and coffee chain reported earnings and gave a cautious outlook, forecasting "a tougher consumer environment than last year”.
Boliden AB (ST:BOL) registered a similar drop in shares as the mining group produced profit that missed expectations due a slowdown in output.
Shares in Ericsson (ST:ERICb) slumped 2% as the Swedish maker of mobile telecom equipment reported a quarterly operating loss.
On the upside, Volvo (ST:VOLVb) jumped 7% after the Swedish truck maker smashed profit forecasts.
Metso Oyj (HE:METSO) was not far behind with gains of 5% after the Finnish engineering group also beat consensus.
In other news, Vivendi (PA:VIV) was reported to be planning to accelerate acquisitions in video games and advertising.
Meanwhile, oil prices were higher for the first time in seven sessions as investors looked ahead to weekly data on U.S. crude stockpiles.
Industry group the American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report at 4:30PM ET (20:30GMT) later on Tuesday. Official data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday, amid forecasts for an oil-stock drop of 1.3 million barrels.
Energy stocks lacked direction, as French oil and gas major Total SA (PA:TOTF) gained 0.33%, Italy’s ENI (MI:ENI) inched up 0.07%, although Norwegian rival Statoil (OL:STL) lost 0.42%.
Financial stocks also showed mixed trade after a strong rally the previous dat, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) fell 0.15% and 0.77%, respectively, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and rival Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) lost 1.92% and 0.85%, respectively.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) gained 0.74% and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) slipped 0.06%, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) traded down 0.62% and 0.60%, respectively.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 gained 0.25% as mining stocks showed mixed signs.
Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) rose 0.33%, Anglo American (LON:AAL) fell 1.42%, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) traded down 0.62% and 0.37%, respectively.
Energy stocks recorded gains, as BP (LON:BP) rose 0.18% and rival Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) was up 0.81%.
Financial stocks were mostly higher, with shares in HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) up 0.59% while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) gained 1.00% and 0.39%, respectively. In the red, Barclays (LON:BARC) dropped 0.09%.
In the U.S., futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.23%, S&P 500 futures advanced 0.13%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 0.15%.