Europe open: Equities nudge higher as investors sift through earnings

European stocks nudged higher in early trade, taking their cue from an upbeat US session as investors sifted through the latest batch of corporate earnings.

At 0900 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.3%, while France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX were 0.2% firmer.

“Risk appetite has been on the increase thanks to some decent corporate and economic activity, but as US earnings season winds down, investors may struggle to find the next short term catalyst to keep the momentum going,” said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor.

On the corporate front, Standard Chartered slumped after it posted a third-quarter operating loss of $139m, announced plans to raise $5.1bn in new capital and cut 15,000 jobs.

Primark owner Associated British Foods slipped after posting a 30% slump in pre-tax profit for the year ended 12 September as the company was hit by lower sugar prices and adverse currency movements.

Switzerland’s UBS was under the cosh after the bank posted better-than-expected third-quarter net profit but said it was under investigation over alleged corruption at FIFA.

Shares in beleaguered German car maker Volkswagen fell sharply after US environment regulators said late on Monday that the company had used devices to cheat air pollution tests in luxury diesel vehicles.

On the upside, Imperial Tobacco edged higher as it reported a rise in pre-tax profit and underlying tobacco net revenue for the year ended 30 September and said it was well placed to meet expectations for the coming year, despite a drop in overall revenues.

Royal Dutch Shell rose after saying it will accelerate the implementation of measures to deal with a prolonged downturn in oil prices once the acquisition of BG Group is complete.

BMW was also on the front foot as it announced a surprise increase in operating profit for the third quarter thanks to strong sales in core European markets.

The data calendar is fairly light on Tuesday, but investors will eye the release of US industrial new orders at 1500 GMT.