Investing.com - European stocks were higher on Tuesday, despite weak jobs data from Spain as hopes for progress on the Greek front and upbeat fourth-quarter earnings reports lent support to European equities.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rallied 1.22%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.79%, while Germany’s DAX 30 jumped 0.96%.
Spain’s Employment Ministry earlier reported that the number of unemployed people increased by 78,000 last month, disappointing expectations for a drop of 32,400. The number of unemployed people fell by 64,400 in December.
But equity markets found support amid hopes that Greece’s new government would be able to reach a compromise with its international creditors on the terms of its bailout.
Data on Monday showed that manufacturing activity in Greece, France and Italy declined in January, while activity in Germany slowed from the previous month, underlining concerns over the weak recovery.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) rallied 1.11% and 1.69%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) jumped 1.71% and 2.11%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit advanced 0.94% and 1.37% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander surged 1.60% and 1.82%.
Earlier Tuesday, Santander said profit climbed 68% in the fourth quarter, in line with analysts' estimates.
Elsewhere, Alfa Laval AB (ST:ALFA) saw shares advance 2.46% after the Swedish industrial group reported fourth-quarter sales that exceeded analysts' estimates.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 gained 0.94%, led by sharp gains in the mining and energy sectors.
Shares in Rio Tinto climbed 1.76% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) jumped 2.28%, while rivals Antofagasta and Bhp Billiton surged 3.50% and 3.62% respectively.
Oil and gas giant BP (LONDON:BP) added to gains, with shares up 3.70% after posting quarterly profit of $2.2 billion, exceeding analysts' projections.
In the financial sector, stocks were also on the upside. Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) climbed 0.55% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) advanced 0.78%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) jumped 1.34% and Barclays soared 2.59%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady to higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.03% uptick, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.07% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.09% rise.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on factory orders.