By Barbara Kollmeyer
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets were pushing
higher on Tuesday, with bank stocks providing support in the wake
of earnings from Citigroup, but 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) and Bank of America (BAC) are due
on Tuesday.
Technology stocks fell in Asia and U.S. stock futures were
slightly weak ahead of another heavy earnings session. 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 2.4%, helping to drag the FTSE 100 index down 0.1% to
5,734.55.
However, that was balanced by a 3.5% gain for Autonomy Corp. .
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 2.4%,
and shares of Barclays PLC (BCS) added 1.6%.
Banks were drawing additional support after the Basel Committee
on Banking Supervision said it will let major European banks comply
with new rules on liquidity gradually over an "observation"
period.
In Paris, the CAC 40 index rose 0.2% to 3,840.79. Shares of
Societe Generale SA rose 2.6% and Natixis SA added 2.8%.
Shares of Renault SA jumped nearly 5%.
On the downside, shares of Capgemini fell 0.5% and
Alcatel-Lucent lost 0.8%.
In Germany, Infineon Technologies AG fell 1.3%, but banks were
padding out the main index. Deutsche Bank (DB) rose 3.3% and
Commerzbank was up 1.7%.
The German DAX 30 index rose 0.2% to 6,530.02.
Also in Germany, shares of Munich Re gained nearly 1% on news
that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA) lifted its
stake in the reinsurer to more than 10% and said it would buy more
shares over the next year.
On the economic side, the ZEW German investor sentiment
indicator fell slightly more than forecast in October, to -7.2 from
-4.3 in September. ZEW said another decline for economic sentiment
shows that growth will likely slow in the next six months.