[ad_1]
The lights of Frankfurt am Main’s banking skyline glow in the last light of day.
Boris Roessler | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
LONDON — European markets were mixed on Tuesday as mining stocks gained on rate cut hopes.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.02% lower at 11:24 a.m. London time, reversing earlier gains, with major regional indexes last being mixed. Mining stocks added 0.76% and autos gained 0.88%, although sectors including retail stocks were trading in negative territory.
Copper prices hit a near-six-week high on Tuesday, with three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange last up 0.78% at 11:21 a.m. trading at $9,359.50 per metric ton. It comes after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday gave his strongest indication yet that the central bank would cut interest rates at its Sept. 18 meeting. Lower rates tend to boost demand for commodities like metals.
European bourses had posted a mixed session on Monday when U.K. markets were closed for a national bank holiday.
Investors continued to weigh geopolitical risks after Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes over the weekend, raising fears about a wider conflict in the Middle East. The uncertainty sent oil prices higher on Monday, but gains pared back on Tuesday.
Brent crude futures were last down by 0.69% to $80.87 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined by 0.83% to $76.70 a barrel at 11:26 a.m. London time.
On the data front in Europe, Germany’s statistics office on Tuesday released a final reading of the country’s second-quarter gross domestic product, saying that it fell by 0.1% from the previous quarter, in line with preliminary estimates.
Elsewhere, the British Retail Consortium on Tuesday said that shop prices in the U.K. fell into deflation territory for the first time in almost three years in August. Shop prices fell 0.3%, the industry body said, down from inflation of 0.2% in the previous month.
Also on Tuesday, Hungary’s central bank is set to announce its interest rate decision.
[ad_2]
Source link
