Dipo Olowookere
By Investors Hub
European stocks are struggling for direction on Tuesday as oil extended the previous session’s losses, corporate earnings proved a mixed bag and investors awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony for possible clues on the outlook for U.S. interest rates.
While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line, the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent.
Norwegian telecom company Telenor has moved to the downside after its underlying sales growth slowed in the second quarter.
Property giant British Land Co. has also dropped after it warned of a challenging retail market.
On the other hand, ThyssenKrupp has soared on restructuring hopes after Ulrich Lehner informed the company?s Executive Board that he will resign from his office as Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Casino Group shares have also climbed in Paris. The French retailer kept all its annual financial goals after posting second quarter revenue that topped forecasts.
In economic news, Britain’s employment level set a fresh record high in the three months to May and unemployment was unchanged, yet pay growth eased to its lowest in six months, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.
The number of employment was a record high 32.399 million in the March to May period, rising by 137,000 from the previous three months. Economists had forecast employment growth of 115,000.
The employment rate rose to a record 75.7 percent from 75.6 percent in the three months to April period.
