European stock markets inched slightly higher Tuesday morning, as investors continued to monitor the latest corporate earnings and keep a close eye on Spain’s constitutional crisis.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged up around 0.12 percent during early morning deals with almost all sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
Technology and media stocks led the gains in Europe on Tuesday, up more than 0.3 percent amid earnings news.
Swedish defense firm Saab posted earnings Tuesday, reporting that bookings and profits were above market forecasts in the third quarter. The company said it had been further aided by increases in defense spending and growing investments in civil security. Its shares surged more than 5 percent higher shortly after the opening bell.
Britain’s Whitbread reported first-half pretax profit rose 6.7 percent as it added more Premier Inn rooms and opened extra Costa coffee outlets. Despite the profit rise in the first six months of the year, the U.K.’s biggest hotel and coffee shop operator slumped towards the bottom of the benchmark on Tuesday, down more than 4 percent.
Catalonia
Switching focus to politics, Spain’s central government took the unprecedented step of firing the government of Catalonia on Saturday in a last-ditch effort to prevent the restive region’s push for independence. In response, Catalan separatist leaders called for mass civil disobedience.
On the data front, France, Germany and the euro area are all due to report Markit Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data for October on Tuesday morning.
Source: CNBC
