Investing.com – European stocks traded mixed on Tuesday as two polls showed that centrist Emmanuel Macron was considered to be the most convincing candidate in a debate between France’s presidential candidates.
In mid-morning trade in Europe, the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0.22%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.28%, but Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.02%.
The apparent victory eased concerns that right-wing and anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen, who has promised to leave the single-currency bloc if elected, would win out in the French elections, also pushing the euro to six-week highs.
On the economic front, investors looked ahead to the February inflation data from the U.K. Expectations are for the consumer price index (CPI) to hit its highest level since November 2013 in a return to the Bank of England’s 2% target.
The U.K. will also release public finances data for last month to show how the British chancellor did as the country’s fiscal year comes to a close in March.
In company news, Partners Group (SIX:PGHN) led the Stoxx 600 higher with gains of nearly 4% after the Swiss investment firm reported a 41% increase in profit and announced a substantially higher dividend.
Also among gainers, Akzo Nobel (AS:AKZO) saw shares jump more than 3% on reports that U.S. chemicals group PPG (NYSE:PPG) may return with a higher acquisition offer for the Dutch company after the initial $22.5 billion offer was rejected.
On the downside, shares in Fingerprint Cards AB (ST:FINGb) crashed more than 30% as the Swedish manufacturer of fingerprint verification subsystems admitted that it expects an even weaker first quarter along with short-term challenges to prevail in the second quarter, forcing the firm to withdraw its previous 2007 full-year guidance.
Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) led decliners on the DAX with losses of more than 7% as the German financial institution continued to suffer from disappointing details of its capital increase announced over the weekend.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose on Tuesday on expectations that an OPEC-led production cut to prop up the market could be extended.
Energy stocks traded broadly higher, as French oil and gas major Total SA (PA:TOTF) gained 0.99% and Italy’s ENI (MI:ENI) rose 1.35%, and Norwegian rival Statoil (OL:STL) advanced 0.94%.
Financial stocks also mostly registered gains, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) traded up 1.88% and 1.75%, respectively, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) jumped 1.72%. However, rival Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) slumped 7.44%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) jumped 2.18% and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) soared 2.36%, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) gained 1.07% and 1.33%, respectively.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 slipped 0.06%, as market players awaited the inflation data.
Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) lost 1.06%, Anglo American (LON:AAL) inched up 0.04%, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) fell 1.12% and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) traded down 1.27%.
Energy stocks showed gains, as BP (LON:BP) rose 0.39% and rival Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) advanced 0.58%.
Financial stocks were mostly higher, with shares in HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) up 0.01% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) edged forward 0.08%, while Barclays (LON:BARC) and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) gained 1.29% and 0.61% respectively.
U.S. futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.16%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.19%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.26%.