European equities opened modestly higher on Tuesday, taking some lift from a firmer close on Wall Street and a near-term recovery in precious metals prices that had plunged in recent sessions. At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT) the DAX in Germany was up 0.8%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.4% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher.
Metals rebound eases market jitters
Global markets, including European stocks, appear to have steadied after a short-lived period of volatility marked by steep falls in the prices of gold and silver late last week and over the weekend. Precious metals staged a rebound on Monday, helping restore some confidence among investors and contributing to a strong showing on Wall Street, where the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 500 points, roughly 1%.
The settling of metals markets removed a recent source of risk aversion and supported broader risk appetite across equity markets.
Trade news provides an additional tailwind
Global sentiment also benefited from an announcement late Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said the United States had reached a trade deal with India that would reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50%. The change, following months of negotiations and earlier punitive tariff levels as high as 50%, was described as a move toward normalising trade ties.
Corporate results put Publicis in the spotlight
Attention in Europe will remain on quarterly earnings this week, with a large cohort of senior companies reporting. On Tuesday, one of the most closely watched reports came from the French advertising giant Publicis Groupe. The company exceeded expectations for underlying revenue in the fourth quarter after a sequence of significant client wins.
Publicis generated 2.03 billion in free cash flow before working capital changes in 2025, representing a 10.6% increase from the prior year. The group proposed a cash dividend of 3.75 per share, up 4.2% from the previous payment and to be fully paid in cash.
Other European earnings noted on Tuesday included French asset manager Amundi, which reported a 6% rise in 2025 adjusted pretax income to 1.86 billion, supported by record net inflows of 88 billion as the firm launched a new plan aimed at growth through 2028. The Dutch paints maker Akzo Nobel said fourth-quarter margins improved meaningfully from a year earlier as it managed weak demand while progressing a planned merger with U.S. rival Axalta Coating Systems.
Across the Atlantic, investors were set to parse earnings from PayPal, Pfizer and Marathon Petroleum on Tuesday, with Advanced Micro Devices scheduled to report after the U.S. close. Sentiment toward AI-linked stocks was described as fragile following poorly received results from Microsoft last week.
Inflation and central bank considerations
Macroeconomic data released earlier in the session showed inflation remaining contained in France. French consumer prices fell 0.3% month-on-month in January, producing an annual increase of 0.3%, which undershot the expected 0.6% gain.
The European Central Bank is due to hold a policy-setting meeting later this week. Markets widely expect the ECB to leave its policy rate unchanged at 2% for a fifth consecutive meeting. ECB chief Christine Lagarde may face questions about how a firmer euro could affect inflation dynamics - the currency briefly topped $1.20 last week to its highest level since 2021 before easing modestly, and it remained more than 2% higher over the prior two-week period.
Oil eases as geopolitical premium ebbs
Oil prices slipped for a second straight day on Tuesday as signs of de-escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions removed some of the risk premium from the market. Brent futures fell 0.4% to $65.96 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude eased 0.4% to $61.90 a barrel.
Benchmarks had dropped by more than 4% in the previous session after President Trump said Iran was "seriously talking" with Washington, an indication of reduced tensions. Iran and the U.S. were expected to resume nuclear talks on Friday in Turkey, a development reported by Reuters on Monday.
In addition, the U.S. dollar index remained near its highest level in more than a week, which can dampen demand for dollar-denominated crude among foreign buyers and weigh on oil prices.
Outlook
European markets opened with modest gains as the combination of stabilising metals prices, a thaw in trade relations noted by the U.S.-India announcement, and a fresh tranche of corporate earnings created a supportive backdrop. Investors will continue to monitor company reports, central bank commentary and energy market developments for near-term direction.
Given the mixed signals from macro data and corporate earnings, the market tone was cautious rather than exuberant, with specific sectors - including precious metals-related mining, advertising and marketing services, asset management, automotive coatings and energy - likely to show differentiated performance based on company-level results and commodity price moves.