LONDON (AFP) –
Europe's main stock markets steadied Tuesday, consolidating two-week gains as investors digest a series of results from big-hitting companies.
In late morning European trade, London's FTSE 100 index of top shares eased 0.26 percent to 4,573.98 points.
The Paris CAC 40 dipped 0.04 percent to 3,370.66 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 was down 0.06 percent at 5,248.16 points near the half-way stage.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares was flat, slipping just 0.01 percent at 2,601.83 points.
On the foreign exchange market, the European single currency rose to 1.4271, dollars, after earlier hitting a two-week peak at 1.4304 as dealers braced for a survey expected to show deteriorating US consumer confidence.
Wall Street finished with modest gains Monday as a rebound at the end of a calm session helped the market keep momentum from a powerful two-week rally.
"Europe's markets traded mostly sideways in a rather muted session as investors debated whether the recent rally has run out of steam," said City Index analyst Joshua Raymond.
"The miners are the standout losers today and we have seen some bargain hunting going on within the real estate sector after (Monday's) falls and pleasing US new home sales."
In London, shares in energy giant BP shed 1.60 percent to 510.65 pence after it said its second-quarter net profit slumped 53 percent to 4.39 billion dollars (3.07 billion euros) due to falling oil prices.
In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank tumbled 8.80 percent to 47.45 euros.
Germany's biggest bank said its profits soared by 68 percent in the second quarter as global financial markets showed signs of stabilising but bad loan risks also rose.
The bank posted net profit of 1.1 billion euros (1.6 billion dollars) in the period April to June, driven mainly by a strong performance at its investment-banking wing, where revenues jumped 84 percent.
In New York on Monday, a stronger-than-expected report on new home sales offered further evidence of economic recovery, helping the market overcome early profit taking.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.17 percent at 9,108.51, building on two weeks of solid gains.
The indices drifted lower for most of the day as some investors booked profits from the 11 percent advance of the past two weeks.
But a report showing new US home sales jumped 11 percent in June provided a further sign of recovery for the sector at the epicenter of the global financial crisis.
In Asia on Tuesday, Hong Kong share prices rose 1.84 percent to a 10-month high, boosted by gains in heavyweight China Mobile and oil giant CNOOC on hopes they will soon list on the mainland, dealers said.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 372.92 points at 20,624.54 points, its highest close since September 8.
But Tokyo stocks closed flat as investors took a breather after a nine-day winning streak for the Nikkei index, its longest unbroken rally in more than two decades.
The mood turned cautious ahead of a slew of domestic corporate earnings results and US economic data, dealers said.
