European markets were mixed on Tuesday after erasing earlier losses as investors in the region focused on corporate earnings releases and awaited euro zone inflation data.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index hovered just above the flatline at 9:20 a.m. London time, with most sectors in positive territory. Insurance and banking stocks led the losses, while financial services and retail stocks saw the biggest gains.
Major bourses were in mixed territory, with the FTSE 100 down by around 0.3%.
Shares of Volvo were up 4.6% by 9:29 a.m. London time, after the Swedish carmaker reported a new global sales record for 2024.
Regional markets traded higher at the start of the week as investors assessed a media report suggesting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plan may not be as extreme as feared.
The Washington Post reported that Trump’s team is considering a plan to impose tariffs on all countries, but only on “critical imports,” although these were not specified. Trump later disputed the report in a Truth Social post.
Overnight, Asia-Pacific markets rose Tuesday, following Monday’s rally in technology shares on Wall Street that saw the S&P500 and Nasdaq Composite post back-to-back gains. U.S. stock futures slipped on Tuesday morning, however.
Back in Europe, preliminary data from French statistics agency Insee on Tuesday showed prices in France rose less than expected in December. The country’s euro zone-harmonized Consumer Price Index was up 1.8% year-on-year — less than the 1.9% anticipated by economists polled by Reuters.
The French figures come a day after German inflation data showed the country’s consumer price index rose to a higher-than-expected 2.9% in December. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a 2.6% reading.
December inflation data for the euro area is due to be published Tuesday morning.