Investing.com – European stock markets were down on Tuesday, as worries over the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis remained in focus, while U.S. futures indexes pointed to a higher open on Wall Street.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 edged 0.1% lower, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.2%, while Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.6%.
European Union finance ministers approved Portugal's EUR78 billion bailout on Monday and for the first time floated the idea of talks with bondholders over extending Greece’s debt-repayment schedule.
Moody’s Investor Service said that a Greek default would be “highly destabilizing” for banks, causing losses that “far exceed” the size of their loans and investments there.
German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank sank 1.2% and 1% respectively, Spanish banking giant Banco Santander slumped 1.3%, while the National Bank of Greece saw shares drop 2.8%.
Shares in French conglomerate Bouygues tumbled 3.3% after reporting an 81% drop in net profit late Monday, hurt by a lower contribution from its stake in French power-generating company Alstom.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 edged 0.2% lower as gold producer African Barrick Gold extended sharp losses from the previous session, dropping 2.1% after the company said a malfunction at its Buzwagi mine in Tanzania will result in the mine running at reduced capacity for the next two weeks.
On the upside, mobile network operator Vodafone saw shares jump 2% after it reported a 3.2% gain in first half revenue to GBP45.88 billion, slightly higher than market expectations for revenue of GBP45.61 billion.
Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that consumer price inflation in the U.K. rose by 4.5% in April, surpassing expectations for a 4.1% gain.
The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was upbeat ahead of earnings reports from computer manufacturers Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to gain of 0.2%, S&P 500 futures indicated a rise of 0.27%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.28%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on building permits, and housing starts. The country was also to publish government data on the capacity utilization rate and industrial production.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 edged 0.1% lower, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.2%, while Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.6%.
European Union finance ministers approved Portugal's EUR78 billion bailout on Monday and for the first time floated the idea of talks with bondholders over extending Greece’s debt-repayment schedule.
Moody’s Investor Service said that a Greek default would be “highly destabilizing” for banks, causing losses that “far exceed” the size of their loans and investments there.
German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank sank 1.2% and 1% respectively, Spanish banking giant Banco Santander slumped 1.3%, while the National Bank of Greece saw shares drop 2.8%.
Shares in French conglomerate Bouygues tumbled 3.3% after reporting an 81% drop in net profit late Monday, hurt by a lower contribution from its stake in French power-generating company Alstom.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 edged 0.2% lower as gold producer African Barrick Gold extended sharp losses from the previous session, dropping 2.1% after the company said a malfunction at its Buzwagi mine in Tanzania will result in the mine running at reduced capacity for the next two weeks.
On the upside, mobile network operator Vodafone saw shares jump 2% after it reported a 3.2% gain in first half revenue to GBP45.88 billion, slightly higher than market expectations for revenue of GBP45.61 billion.
Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that consumer price inflation in the U.K. rose by 4.5% in April, surpassing expectations for a 4.1% gain.
The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was upbeat ahead of earnings reports from computer manufacturers Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to gain of 0.2%, S&P 500 futures indicated a rise of 0.27%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.28%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on building permits, and housing starts. The country was also to publish government data on the capacity utilization rate and industrial production.