By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to edge higher Tuesday, helped by strong numbers from Swiss banking giant UBS.
At 2:05 AM ET (0605 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.2% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.2% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.1%.
UBS (SIX:UBSG) reported net profit of $2.3 billion in the third quarter, up from $2 billion in the previous quarter and a 9% increase from the same period a year before, as its wealth management division continued to boom.
These strong results may boost the heavily-weighted banking sector Tuesday, especially after Monday’s healthy numbers from U.K.-based rival HSBC (LON:HSBA) - even if neither is a particularly good proxy for the European sector as a whole, given their focus on Asia.
Earlier Tuesday, Asia markets pushed higher, helped by HSBC upgrading its call on Chinese stocks to overweight, saying investors had become too bearish on the market, while Wall Street closed Monday at new record levels.
Back in Europe, French car parts maker Faurecia (PA:EPED) reported a drop in third-quarter sales of over 10% from a year ago, as its customers cut production due to a global shortage in semiconductor chips.
Thales (PA:TCFP) reaffirmed its full-year financial forecasts even as the French defence group reported a 1.4% dip in underlying third-quarter sales, while Swiss drugmaker Novartis ' (SIX:NOVN) third-quarter adjusted operating profit rose 10%.
Carrefour (PA:CARR) will also be in the spotlight after Europe’s largest retailer announced plans to partner with Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) to launch a new rapid grocery delivery service in Paris.
There is little economic data to study in Europe Tuesday, but investors will be keeping an eye on a meeting of European Union ministers to discuss the recent spike in energy prices.
Crude prices stabilized Tuesday after the recent strong rally and ahead of the release of the latest U.S. stockpiles from the American Petroleum Institute, a guide to demand in the world’s biggest consumer of oil.
Oil prices have more than doubled over the last year, helped by strong demand in the United States, as the world’s largest economy recovers from the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Crude oil stockpiles are expected to have risen by 1.7 million barrels last week, according to a Reuters poll, but gasoline and distillate inventories are expected to fall.
By 2:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.1% lower at $83.64 a barrel, while the Brent contract traded flat at $85.17.
Additionally, gold futures traded flat at $1,806.30/oz, while EUR/USD traded just lower at 1.1603.