European stocks advanced on Tuesday, continuing the recovery from the lows of the coronavirus crisis.
After climbing for 11 of the last 14 sessions, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.95% gained 0.6%, putting the index on track to close up over 20% from the depths of March.
The gains have occurred on data showing slowing growth in the deadly virus that has closed the global economy. A number of European countries have taken tentative steps to reopen their economies.
President Donald Trump on Monday laid out a blueprint for coronavirus testing. France is expected to lay out its exit plan on Tuesday.
As total confirmed coronavirus cases topped 3 million, the growth rate has held steady, at around 2% to 4% a day.
“Aggregated across the globe there is little doubt that the growth of the virus is slowing to low levels. However we’re probably in the eye of the storm in terms of news-flow on what the virus spread will look like as lockdowns are eased,” said Jim Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank.
Of stocks on the move, shares of Wirecard WDI, -14.35% slumped 15% after saying a KPMG special investigation didn’t have all the data necessary to prove the revenue in the Third Party Acquiring business. The digital payments firm continued to maintain it will not have to restate its results from 2016 to 2018, and said it would publish the KPMG report soon, which made no “substantial” findings.
Capgemini CAP, +6.52%, the technology consulting firm, rose over 6% after reporting a revenue rise for the first quarter and reducing its dividend.
HSBC Holdings HSBA, -0.97% slipped 1.4%, as the banking giant reported a 48% drop in first-quarter pretax profit to $3.2 billion after taking $3 billion in expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges, as revenue fell 5%.
UBS Group UBSG, +4.98%, by contrast, surged over 4% as the Swiss bank reported a 40% rise in first-quarter profit as it took $268 million for credit loss expenses.
BP BP, -0.55% reported a higher-than-expected underlying replacement cost profit of $791 million as it maintained its dividend, a big concern to investors. BP shares slipped 1.6%, and the other major oil companies, including Total FP, +0.45%, were lower as crude prices CL.1, -12.91% continued to skid.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, +0.98% rose 99 points, with a number of U.S. earnings due, including from machinery maker Caterpillar and Google parent Alphabet.
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