European markets opened slightly higher Tuesday as investors react to falling oil prices and a host of corporate earnings.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged 0.15% higher at the start of trading, insurance and media stocks each gaining 0.7% while the oil and gas sector slid by 0.9%.
Global oil markets are focused on oil prices that continue to fall as the coronavirus has demand global demand for oil, sending prices tumbling.
Oil prices slid 12% during overnight trading, extending Monday’s nearly 25% decline amid ongoing fears that storage around the world is rapidly filling.
Asia stocks have also been reacting to the oil price declines overnight with markets remaining flat.
In corporate news, HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, said on Tuesday that it’s pretax profit fell 48% year over year to $3.229 billion in the first quarter of 2020, while revenue dropped by 5% to $13.686 billion.
The coronavirus pandemic remains the key news feature for markets. More than 3 million people are now reported…
