BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The majority of the European markets ended Tuesday's session with modest gains. The markets struggled following the release of some disappointing earnings reports from companies like HSBC and BHP Billiton.
Traders are also in a cautious mood ahead of the release of the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve tomorrow. Investors are hopeful that the minutes shed some light on the central bank's outlook for interest rates.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.60 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.80 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.54 percent.
The DAX of Germany climbed 0.83 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.64 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.01 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.82 percent.
In Frankfurt, Covestro, the company formed by the spinoff of Bayer's specialty plastics division, climbed 3.33 percent after its fourth-quarter net profit increased more-than fourfold.
HeidelbergCement advanced 0.24 percent after reporting a 16 percent rise in Q4 core profit on higher sales.
In Paris, Edenred jumped 6.49 percent after the prepaid meal voucher and card provider reported record 2017 earnings and hiked dividend.
In London, HSBC Holdings dropped 3.17 percent after its full-year pre-tax profit, adjusted for one-off items and currency fluctuations, fell short of market forecasts.
Mining heavyweight BHP Billiton tumbled 4.58 percent despite the company reporting strong half-year underlying profit and hiking its interim dividend.
Intercontinental Hotels shares sank 2.70 percent after the hotel conglomerate announced a series of new initiatives and said it would not pay out any additional capital to investors in 2018.
Software firm Temenos tumbled 5.95 percent in Zurich amid reports that it was in advance talks to buy U.K. rival Fidessa Group.
Germany's economic confidence declined less-than-expected in January, survey results from the Mannheim-based think tank ZEW showed Tuesday. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment dropped to 17.8 points in February from 20.4 in January. Though the score was above the expected level of 16.0, it was below the long-term average of 23.7.
Germany's producer price inflation eased to a 13-month low in January, figures from Destatis revealed Tuesday.
Producer price inflation slowed to 2.1 percent in January from 2.3 percent in December. This was the weakest since December 2016, when prices gained 1 percent. Nonetheless, the rate was bigger than the expected 1.8 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX