Summary Asian equities mostly rose Tuesday, taking their lead from a second straight advance on Wall Street.
LONDON (AFP) - European equities inched lower on Tuesday, weighed down by poor German data as dealers looked to a string of corporate results on Wall Street and testimony from the head of the US central bank.
In early afternoon trading, London s FTSE 100 inched down 0.08 percent to 6,770.78 points, compared to Monday s closing levels.
Frankfurt s DAX 30 shed 0.12 percent to 9,771.05 points and the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.25 percent to 4,39.17.
Shares took a hit from weaker-than-expected investor confidence data out of eurozone powerhouse Germany.
Investment sentiment in Germany fell to the lowest level for 19 months in July amid signs of a dent in activity in Europe s top economy, a survey showed.
The widely watched investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute fell by 2.7 points to 27.1 points in July, its lowest level since December 2012.
"July s fall in German ZEW investor sentiment adds to signs of a slowdown in the eurozone s largest and strongest economy," said economist Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics in London.
The news adds to concerns that the eurozone is still facing the hangover of years of grinding debt crisis as a holding company behind Portugal s biggest listed bank struggles to avoid bankruptcy.
In reaction, the European single currency dipped to $1.3601 from $1.3619 late in New York on Monday.
"Market uncertainty triggered by troubles at one Portuguese bank and more disappointing economic data from Germany and the eurozone in May could herald a further cooling of confidence," said Christian Schulz at Berenberg.
- US earnings in focus -
Wall Street stocks opened higher following solid corporate earnings reports and a large tobacco merger as investors awaited congressional testimony from the head of the US Federal Reserve.
Five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.24 percent to 17,095.94.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.16 percent to 1,980.18, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.17 percent at 4,447.13.
US investment banking titan Goldman Sachs said earnings rose 4.7 percent to $1.95 billion from a year ago thanks to big jumps in both equity and debt underwriting.
But JPMorgan, the biggest US bank by assets, said earnings dropped 7.9 percent to $5.99 billion compared with the second quarter last year.
Tech giants Intel and Yahoo! will report after the closing bell.
US Fed chair Janet Yellen will also begin two days of testimony later on Tuesday that will focus on the bank s time-frame for raising benchmark interest rates.
"Focus is likely to be on the US where we get Janet Yellen s testimony, a raft of economic data and more corporate earnings," said Stan Shamu, a market strategist at IG.
Shares in European aircraft maker Airbus retreated 0.53 percent despite news it has secured about $25 billion worth of orders at the Farnborough airshow, far outpacing its US rival Boeing.
Imperial Tobacco dropped 2.96 percent after it agreed to buy cigarette brands including Salem and Winston from US tobacco giant Reynolds American for $7.1 billion.
In Lisbon, shares in Portugal s largest listed lender Banco Espirito Santo again fell as much as 20 percent on concerns that one of the bank s holding companies is at risk of default.
Asian equities mostly rose Tuesday, taking their lead from a second straight advance on Wall Street, while investors await a string of market-moving news and data over the next few days.
Hong Kong added 0.49 percent, Tokyo rose 0.78 percent, Seoul jumped 0.94 percent and Shanghai 0.18 percent, while Sydney was flat.
The British pound weakened to $1.7163 from $1.7083 on Monday, as investors shrugged off a surprise jump in inflation. The euro eased to 79.24 pence from 79.71 pence.
In commodity deals, gold advanced to $1,312 per ounce from $1,306 on Monday.
