Dipo Olowookere
By Investors Hub
European stocks are little changed in cautious trade on Tuesday as investors await further clarity on the U.S.-China trade talks.
Earlier today, China’s Commerce Ministry said in a brief notice that Vice Premier Liu He spoke with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and agreed to continue talks on the phase one deal.
Meanwhile, German consumer confidence is set to improve in December, survey data from market research group GfK showed.
The forward-looking consumer sentiment index ticked up to 9.7 points in December from 9.6 in November, matching expectations.
Both economic and income expectations showed a marked increase, while propensity to buy remained at a high level despite marginal losses.
“The exceptionally high levels of consumer confidence among German consumers have significantly contributed to preventing a recession in Germany in the third quarter,” Rolf Bürkl, consumer expert at GfK, said.
While the German DAX Index has edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is just above the unchanged line and the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent.
Shares of Compass Group have tumbled after the British catering company reported a higher annual underlying operating profit but warned that it is not immune to the macro environment.
“Deteriorating business and consumer confidence in Europe has impacted our business and industry volumes, new business activity and margin,” Group chief executive Dominic Blakermore said.
Real estate investment trust Shaftesbury has also slumped after its profit for the year ended September 30, 2019 dropped to 26.0 million pounds from last year’s 175.5 million pounds.
Meanwhile, CRH shares have rallied after the building materials group said its nine-month EBITDA, a key earnings metric, climbed 27 percent to 3.2 billion euros from last year’s 2.5 billion euros. On a like-for-like basis, EBITDA grew 7 percent.
