By Barbara Kollmeyer
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets tried to shake
off opening losses Tuesday to push higher, as banks provided
support in the wake of earnings from Citigroup, though technology
stocks were weak after results from Apple Inc. and International
Business Machines.
The Europe Stoxx 600 index edged up 0.1% to 266.86, after a rise
of 0.3% on Monday.
Markets were trying to overcome earlier losses, with support
from the financial sector. Banks rose in Asia after strong earnings
from Citigroup (C) and major banks were also higher in Europe.
Earnings from Goldman Sachs (GS) are due on Tuesday.
Technology stocks fell in Asia and U.S. stock futures remained
weak after tech giants Apple (AAPL) and IBM (IBM) posted
better-than-forecast results on Monday, but shares fell in after
hours trading. Apple disappointed over its outlook and iPad sales,
while for IBM the focus was on a fall in new contracts.
Negative sentiment on tech stocks spilled over to some of
Europe's biggest tech stocks. In London, shares of ARM Holdings PLC
fell 2.1%, helping to drag the FTSE 100 index down 0.1% to
5,734.55.
Shares of Autonomy Corp. edged up 0.2%. The company said
third-quarter profit rose 22% on a sales gain of 9.9%. Autonomy
sees "upside" to the current market consensus for 2011
earnings.
On the upside, shares of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) rose 2%,
and shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC added 1.1%.
In Paris, the CAC-40 index traded flat at 3,833.59. Shares of
Societe Generale SA rose nearly 2% and Natixis SA added 1.5%.
On the downside, shares of Capgemini fell 0.5% and
Alcatel-Lucent lost 0.8%.
In Germany, Infineon Technologies AG fell 1.7%, while Deutsche
Bank (DB) rose 2.5% and Commerzbank was up 1.6%. The German DAX 30
index rose 0.2% to 6,527.08.