Investing.com – European stock markets were broadly higher on Tuesday, as shares in the financial sector were boosted by gains in British banking giant Barclays, while U.S. futures indexes pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.52%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.38%, while Germany's DAX was up 0.19%.
Shares in the financial sector performed strongly after British banking giant Barclays reported better-than-expected earnings for the 2010 fiscal year.
The lender said pretax profit jumped by 32% to GBP6.07 billion, beating market expectations for profit of GBP5.78 billion. Barclays’ core Tier 1 capital ratio strengthened to 10.8% from 10% a year earlier, as it took fewer charges for bad loans.
Following the results, shares in Barclays climbed 2.62%. Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group saw shares gain 2.05%, Italy’s largest bank Unicredit saw shares rally 3.47%, while shares in Europe’s largest banking group BNP Paribas jumped 2.59%.
Meanwhile, shares in French food giant Danone climbed 3.12% after it posted a 12% increase in 2010 net profit as sales rose by 6.9% to EUR17.01 billion, exceeding expectations for sales of EUR16.8 billion.
However, shares in French airliner Air France-KLM slumped 1.25% after UBS downgraded the stock from ‘buy’ to ‘sell’, citing worries over rising fuel prices.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that the German economy expanded at the slowest pace in a year in the fourth quarter.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 eased down 0.02% as markets awaited the release of key data on U.K. consumer prices.
Shares in miners were broadly lower, with copper producer Xstrata tumbling 1.96%, mining giant BHP Billiton falling 1.6%, while silver producer Fresnillo saw shares drop 2.22%.
The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was mixed ahead of earnings reports from the world’s third largest maker of personal computers Dell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.02%, S&P 500 futures indicated a drop of 0.03%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a gain of 0.04%.
Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that China’s consumer price index rose less-than-expected in January. Meanwhile, the U.S. was to publish government data on retail sales as well as a report on manufacturing activity in New York later in the day.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.52%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.38%, while Germany's DAX was up 0.19%.
Shares in the financial sector performed strongly after British banking giant Barclays reported better-than-expected earnings for the 2010 fiscal year.
The lender said pretax profit jumped by 32% to GBP6.07 billion, beating market expectations for profit of GBP5.78 billion. Barclays’ core Tier 1 capital ratio strengthened to 10.8% from 10% a year earlier, as it took fewer charges for bad loans.
Following the results, shares in Barclays climbed 2.62%. Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group saw shares gain 2.05%, Italy’s largest bank Unicredit saw shares rally 3.47%, while shares in Europe’s largest banking group BNP Paribas jumped 2.59%.
Meanwhile, shares in French food giant Danone climbed 3.12% after it posted a 12% increase in 2010 net profit as sales rose by 6.9% to EUR17.01 billion, exceeding expectations for sales of EUR16.8 billion.
However, shares in French airliner Air France-KLM slumped 1.25% after UBS downgraded the stock from ‘buy’ to ‘sell’, citing worries over rising fuel prices.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that the German economy expanded at the slowest pace in a year in the fourth quarter.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 eased down 0.02% as markets awaited the release of key data on U.K. consumer prices.
Shares in miners were broadly lower, with copper producer Xstrata tumbling 1.96%, mining giant BHP Billiton falling 1.6%, while silver producer Fresnillo saw shares drop 2.22%.
The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was mixed ahead of earnings reports from the world’s third largest maker of personal computers Dell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.02%, S&P 500 futures indicated a drop of 0.03%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a gain of 0.04%.
Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that China’s consumer price index rose less-than-expected in January. Meanwhile, the U.S. was to publish government data on retail sales as well as a report on manufacturing activity in New York later in the day.