LONDON — European stocks were muted on Tuesday as global markets searched for direction amid earnings, rising Covid-19 cases, Chinese tech regulation and U.S. growth worries.
TICKER COMPANY NAME PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE VOLUME
.FTSE FTSE 100 FTSE 7110.99 29.27 0.41 34167234
.GDAXI DAX DAX 15573.97 5.24 0.03 6929898
.FCHI CAC 40 Index CAC 6726.59 50.69 0.76 7132553
The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered around the flatline in early trade, with oil and gas stocks jumping 1% on the back of strong earnings from BP, while tech stocks slid 1.1%.
Major markets in Asia-Pacific were mostly lower on Tuesday as Hong Kong-listed Chinese online gambling shares plunged after being described as “opium” by Chinese state media.
Stateside, stock futures were slightly higher in early premarket trade after concerns about slowing growth sparked a sell-off on Wall Street in the previous session, while the spread of the delta Covid-19 variant continued to hamper sentiment.
Tuesday marks another big day for corporate earnings in Europe, with BP, Standard Chartered, BMW and Societe Generale among the big names reporting.
BP beat second-quarter earnings to report an underlying replacement cost profit of $2.8 billion, while growing its dividend by 4% and vowing $1.4 billion of share buybacks in the third quarter. The oil and gas giant’s shares climbed 2.8% in early trade.
Societe Generale beat profit expectations to report a net income of 1.44 billion euros ($1.71 billion) for the second quarter, vastly outstripping the 704 million euro net profit projected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. The French bank was buoyed in particular by a rebound in domestic retail banking. Shares gained 3.3%.
Stellantis raised its full-year profit margin target after strong first-half results, sending Milan-listed shares in the world’s fourth-largest carmaker, formed by the merger of PSA and Fiat Chrysler, 4.3% higher on Tuesday morning.
At the bottom of the Stoxx 600, British industrial group Rotork slid 7% after its first-half results and the announcement that its CEO will step down.
BMW fell 3% after warning that the global semiconductor shortage and high raw material prices will weigh on earnings in the second half.
On the data front, euro zone producer price inflation readings for June are due at 10 a.m. London time.
