BP BP Plc

By Riva Gold 

European bourses reversed early gains on Tuesday, even as U.S. stock futures and Asian markets rebounded.

The Stoxx Europe 600 inched down 0.3% midmorning after initially opening higher as investors eyed the latest news on corporate profits.

Shares of Standard Chartered fell over 5% after the Asia-focused bank posted a $458 million pretax profit that fell short of analyst expectations, while shares of BP also fell over 3%, dragging down wider indexes, after the British energy giant posted third-quarter profits.

Earlier, global markets had received a lift from a better-than-expected reading on the Chinese economy. Data showed China's industrial sector picked up last month with an official gauge of factory activity rising to its highest level in two years.

Futures pointed to a 0.2% opening gain for the S&P 500, following an upbeat session in Asia.

"China is doing a bit better than many people expected," said Ugo Montrucchio, a multiasset fund manager at Schroders.

While it is hard to draw sharp conclusions from the country's macroeconomic data, it is clear the country's ongoing fiscal stimulus is bringing about some signs of stabilization, he added.

Commodity prices also moved higher, as metal prices rose in the wake of the Chinese economic data and Brent crude oil climbed 0.8% from its lowest level since September to $48.99 a barrel.

In currencies, the British pound inched up 0.1% against the dollar at $1.2252, holding on to Monday's gains after Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney said in a letter that he plans to serve an extra year in his post.

Earlier, shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai led Asian markets higher after the upbeat data on the Chinese economy. The Hang Seng rose 0.9%.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average inched up 0.1%, while the dollar inched up 0.1% against the yen to Yen105.0220 after the Bank of Japan left its stimulus program unchanged as expected but reduced its inflation forecasts.

Shares in Australia edged lower, however, while the Australian dollar rose sharply after the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its cash rate target unchanged at 1.5%.

In bond markets, the yield on 10-year German debt rose to 0.203%, while U.S. Treasury yields climbed to 1.867% from 1.834% on Monday. Yields move inversely to prices.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 01, 2016 06:13 ET (10:13 GMT)

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