Investing.com - European stocks opened moderately higher on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a fresh batch of third-quarter earnings reports.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 gained 0.26%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.14%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.23%.
Markets were still jittery after data on Monday showed that China’s economic growth slowed to 6.9% in the third quarter, down from 7% in the previous quarter. The figure is the country's slowest growth rate since 2009.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) rose 0.27% and 0.22%, while Germany's Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) advanced 0.45% and 0.85%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) gained 0.43% and 3.44% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) added 0.13%.
Earlier Tuesday, UniCredit said it was considering the sale of retail and small and medium enterprise (SME) finance businesses at its central and eastern European arm Bank Austria.
Elsewhere, TeliaSonera AB (ST:TLSN) gained 0.87% after the Swedish phone carrier cut its full-year earnings forecast after reporting a decline in quarterly profit.
On the downside, Volkswagen (DE:VOWG) AG dropped 0.84% amid reports the carmaker may face a fine of as much as €600 million in Spain and executives in the country may get a jail term.
In London, FTSE 100 edged up 0.14%, boosted by InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (L:IHG), whose shares rallied 2.51% after the world’s largest provider of hotel accommodation reported an increase in third-quarter room revenue.
Financial stocks were also broadly higher, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS) added 0.19% and Lloyds Banking (L:LLOY) rose 0.23%, while Barclays (L:BARC) gained 0.29%. HSBC Holdings (L:HSBA) held steady, with shares inching up just 0.02%.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were among the worst performers on the index. Rio Tinto (L:RIO) and Anglo American (L:AAL) tumbled 1.35% and 1.38% respectively, while Bhp Billiton (L:BLT) lost 1.64% and Glencore (L:GLEN) plummeted 2.14%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.07% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.04% downtick, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.02% dip.