Stock traders watch monitors in a trading room at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as fears over a South African variant of the coronavirus hit the German stock market hard.
Arne Dedert | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
The Stoxx 600 Index was up 0.21% at the start of trading, with most sectors and major bourses trading in the positive. Travel & Leisure stocks led the gains, up 1.33%, while Household Goods was down 0.36%.
Markets were mixed on Monday. France’s CAC 40 index rose 0.9% after a mixed morning as investors weighed the possibility of the far-right Rally National party winning the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections. The index had fallen more than 6.2% last week.
Investors are focused on the Bank of England’s interest rate decision on Thursday. The bank is widely expected to keep rates unchanged at 5.25%. Economists surveyed by Reuters A rate cut is expected in August.
Asia-Pacific markets rebounded overnight on Tuesday, after Wall Street surged on Monday as investors awaited the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate decision. Meanwhile, S&P 500 futures were roughly flat overnight on Monday after a day of gains on Wall Street as investors prepared for the release of retail sales data for May.