Investing.com - European markets opened higher on Wednesday, as investors continued to focus on corporate earnings reports and U.S. President Donald Trump's tour in Asia.
The EURO STOXX 50 slipped 0.09%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.13%, while Germany’s DAX 30 was up 0.15% by 03:35 a.m. ET (07:35 GMT).
Investors remained cautious after, in an address to the South Korean parliament on Wednesday, Trump addressed tensions with North Korea, saying that it "has interpreted America's past restraint as weakness."
"This would be a fatal miscalculation. This is a very different administration than the United States has had in the past," he added.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in South Korea on Tuesday after meeting with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the weekend.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) fell 0.09% and 0.539%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) lost 0.59% and 1.53%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) declined 0.89% and 1.11% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MC:SAN) and BBVA (MC:BBVA) dropped 0.48% and 0.55%.
On the upside, Henkel VZO (DE:HNKG_p) saw shares rally 1.10% after the German consumer goods group called off talks to acquire a 26% stake in Indian soaps and detergent maker Jyothy Laboratories Ltd.
Heidelbergcement AG O.N. (DE:HEIG) added to gains, with shares up 4.68% after the company reported better than ecpected third-quarter profit, helped by as cost cuts from its $4 billion takeover of Italcementi.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose 0.25%, supported by Imperial Brands (LON:IMB), whose shares jumped 2.82% after the cigarette maker said thedecline in sales volumes of cigarettes in the second half of its year slowed down. The company also reported an increase in annual revenues, helped by favorable currency movements.
Energy company SSE (LON:SSE) was also on the upside, as shares surged 2.13% following reports it and npower are considering combining their household energy supply businesses. The two groups said they were in talks to create a new independent energy supply firm, which would combine their nearly 13 million customers.
Mining stocks were mostly higher on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) rose 0.30% and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) gained 0.42%, while Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) climbed 0.62%.
In the financial sector, stocks were mostly lower. The Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) slid 0.30% and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) dropped 0.54%, while Barclays (LON:BARC) declined 0.69%. HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) was steady, with shares inching up just 0.06%.
Meanwhile, Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) remained one of the worst performers on the index for a second consecutive session, with shares down 3.48% after the company said on Tuesday that it did not expect profit margins at Primark to recover in 2018.
The group did however report a 15% increase in revenue for its most recent financial year.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.01% dip, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.05% downtick, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.07% gain.