RTTN: European Stocks Little Changed After Nine-day Rally
The European markets gave back initial gains on Tuesday as caution crept in following recent sharp gains on optimism over Greece. A mixed batch of earnings reports and the recent pullback in commodity prices also offered traders little direction.
The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index is currently down about 0.1 percent, while the German DAX, France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 are marginally higher.
SAP shares are moving up 0.4 percent in Frankfurt. The business software maker reiterated its outlook for the full year 2015 after reporting mixed quarterly results.
Vodafone Group Plc is declining 0.4 percent in London after announcing several changes to simplify and streamline its management structure.
Shares of IG Group Holdings are down almost 7 percent after Tim Howkins said he would retire from his role as chief executive and a director in October.
Gold miner Fresnillo is rallying 3 percent and rival Randgold is rising 2 percent as gold held steady after a slump on Monday.
Novartis shares are down 2 percent after the Swiss drug giant reported lower earnings for the second quarter, hurt by a strengthening of the U.S. dollar.
In economic releases, U.K. public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, decreased to GBP 9.4 billion in June, compared with 10.2 billion pounds a year earlier, marking the smallest budget deficit for June in seven years, official figures showed.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks closed mostly higher as easing concerns about Greece, encouraging U.S. earnings news and the continued rebound in Chinese stock market helped offset worries over the decline in commodity prices.
Trading in U.S. stock futures indicate a mixed open amid a light day on the economic front.