Investing.com - European markets opened higher on Tuesday, with fresh earnins reports and speeches from a number of central bank officials in focus.
The EURO STOXX 50 added 0.17%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.38%, while Germany’s DAX 30 was up 0.33% by 03:30 a.m. ET (07:30 GMT).
Market participants were looking ahead to speeches by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
Investors also continued to monitor developments in the U.S., where Senate Republicans unveiled a tax plan on Thursday that differed from the one crafted by House Republicans, highlighting the challenges to reconciling the differences between the two plans with just a short time before the year-end deadline they have set to pass it.
Hopes of tax reform have helped boost the dollar since mid-September. Some traders believe tax reforms could bolster growth, adding pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, known as the "Trumpflation" trade.
Financial stocks were mixed, as BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) slipped 0.22% and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) gained 0.29% in France, while Germany's Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) climbed 0.50% and 1.507%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MI:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) rose 0.12% and 0.29% respectively, while Banco Santander (MC:SAN) dipped 0.02% and BBVA (MC:BBVA) inched up 0.07% in Spain.
Elsewhere, Henkel & Co KGaA AG Pref (DE:HNKG_p) shares tumbled 1.81% after the German consumer goods maker raised its forecast for full-year earnings per share and reported third-quarter underlying sales growth of 3%.
German utility company RWE AG ST O.N. (DE:RWEG) reported better-than-expected third-quarter profit of €8.76 billion. Shares were down only 0.02% in European morning trade.
In London, FTSE 100 added 0.21%, led by Tesco (LON:TSCO), whose shares surged 4.49% after the retailer's takeover of food wholesaler Booker was provisionally cleared by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.
Vodafone (LON:VOD) added to gains, as shares rallied 3.94% the mobile giant doubled full-year growth forecasts. The company also said third-quarter operating profit increased by 32.5%.
In the financial sector, stocks were broadly higher. HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) inched up 0.03% and Barclays (LON:BARC) climbed 0.50%, while Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) gained 0.63% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) advanced 0.86%.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were broadly lower on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) dropped 0.59% and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) declined 0.69%, while rival group Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) lost 1.04%.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK) was one of the worst performers on the index, with shares down 2.60% after analysts at Zacks Investment Research downgraded the stock from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating.
UK investors were also still digesting reports over the weekend that 40 Conservative members of the parliament agreed to sign a letter of no-confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May. That is eight short of the number needed to trigger a party leadership contest and force May from office.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.03% uptick, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.04% dip, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.05% gain.