By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets pushed higher Tuesday, helped by gains in the banking and oil sectors as well as an attempt to reduce tensions between the United States and China over the coronavirus crisis.
At 3:45 AM ET (0745 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 1.8% higher, France's CAC 40 up 2.5%, while the U.K.'s FTSE index traded 1.7% higher, aheaqd of a crucial decision by the German Constitutional Court on the European Central Bank's bond purchases.
Deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger insisted Monday the United States is not considering “punitive measures” against China over its handling of the pandemic, taking a more conciliatory stance after the recent hostility toward Beijing from other members of the U.S. government.
The aggressive stance from the U.S. administration had raised fears over the weekend of another trade war between the two most powerful economies in the world, which would likely curtail global growth just when it’s most needed.
Elsewhere, in corporate news, BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY) SA (PA:BNPP soared over 4% after saying its revenue remained resilient in the first quarter despite profit falling by a third as the eurozone’s biggest bank set aside more than half a billion euros in loan provisions.
This helped drag the whole banking sector higher, with French peers Credit Agricole (PA:CAGR) gaining 5.4% and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) 3.3%.
Turning to the oil & gas sector, Repsol (MC:REP) jumped over 6%, helping the whole sector higher, despite posting a drop in first-quarter profit of 28% as oil prices began their unprecedented decline.
The Spanish oil giant has already cancelled plans to unveil a new clean-energy strategy this month and halted its share buybacks, though it has maintained its dividend.
German fashion house Hugo Boss (DE:BOSSn) also climbed 2.5% after reporting that sales fell a currency-adjusted 17% in the first quarter, but added that it was seeing signs of a rebound in China and online.
Oil futures gained Tuesday, helped by the lessening of tensions surrounding a trade war and amid further signs of reopening, this time in India, the world’s second most populous country.
At 3:45 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 10.7% higher at $22.57 a barrel. The international benchmark Brent contract rose 7.2% to $29.16
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.8% to $1,700.40/oz, while EUR/USD traded at 1.0889, down 0.2%.