European markets are making gains Tuesday, hours after most of Asia ended a sluggish trading session.
London’s FTSE index is up 0.1% at the midday mark, while the CAC-40 in Paris is 0.3% higher and the DAX index in Frankfurt is up 0.5%.
A woman wearing a face mask walks past a bank's electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index at Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Aug. 18, 2020.
The Nikkei index in Tokyo finished the trading day 0.2% lower. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 20 points but was flat percentage-wise, while Shanghai’s Composite ended up 0.3%. Sydney’s S&P/ASX index was up 0.8%. The KOSPI index in Seoul plunged 2.4%, and Taipei’s TSEC index closed 0.6% lower.
Mumbai’s Sensex is up 1.2% in late afternoon trading.
In commodities trading, gold is trading at $2,012.20 an ounce, up 0.6%. U.S. crude oil is selling at $42.79 a barrel, down 0.2%, and Brent crude oil is selling flat at $45.33 an ounce.
All three major U.S. indices are trending positively in futures trading ahead of Wall Street’s opening bell.