The City of London skyline at sunset.
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LONDON — European stocks opened higher on Tuesday as investors keep an eye on earnings.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3% shortly after the market opened, with Italy’s FTSE MIB also adding nearly 0.4%. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.2%, and Germany’s DAX was trading just below the flatline.
Regional markets edged higher on Monday, as investors digested comments from this year’s Munich Security Conference.
Earnings remain in focus for investors. Miners Antofagasta and BHP Group released earnings on Tuesday, as well as InterContinental Hotels Group.
Sterling fell against the dollar, down 0.5% to trade at $1.356, after the U.K.’s earnings and employment report showed that the number of payrolled workers fell 0.4% on a yearly basis to 30.3 million in January 2026.
That’s 134,000 fewer employees since January 2025 and down 11,000 from the previous month. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in December, up from 5.1% a month earlier. The pound was last down 0.4% against the Euro.
UK unemployment is now at its “highest level” since January 2021, hitting a five-year high, Samuel Fuller, Director of Financial Markets Online, said.
Meanwhile, German inflation came in at 2.1% in January, up from 1.8% the previous month, the German Federal Statistical Office reported on Tuesday. “The rise in overall consumer prices intensified at the start of the year,” Ruth Brand, president of the Federal Statistical Office, said in the release.
Overnight, S&P 500 futures were near flat following two straight negative weeks for the benchmark; U.S markets were shut on Monday for Presidents’ Day.
Asian financial markets were treading carefully on Tuesday in holiday-thinned trading, with markets in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea closed on Tuesday for Lunar New Year.