The UK market is modestly lower in afternoon trading Tuesday, after news emerged that Standard Chartered may lose its license to operate in New York city as well as its U.S. dollar clearing license, on charges of transactions with Iran.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is climbing 0.72 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is rising 0.06 percent.
The FTSE 100 index is currently losing 0.16 percent.
Standard Chartered is plunging 24 percent. The New York State Department of Financial Services accused its unit Standard Chartered Bank of hiding $250 billion in illegal dealings with Iran for more than a decade.
Barclays is falling 1.5 percent, Lloyds Banking is down 1 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland is losing 2.1 percent.
InterContinental Hotels is climbing 7.5 percent. The firm reported a surge in second-quarter profit, hiked its dividend and announced a $1 billion return of capital.
Evraz is gaining 5.1 percent and International Consolidated Airlines is rising 3 percent.
Xstrata reported a 33 percent decline in first-half profit, reflecting lower commodity prices. The stock is up over 2 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is gaining 0.32 percent and the French CAC 40 is advancing 0.46 percent. Switzerland's SMI is dropping 0.32 percent.
In economic news, data released by the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology showed that the country's factory orders fell more than forecast in June. Factory orders fell 1.7 percent month-on-month in June compared to expectations for a 0.8 percent drop.
U.K. industrial production decreased in June, but the rate of decline was weaker than forecast by economists, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.
Across Asia/Pacific, Australia's All Ordinaries and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained around 0.4 percent each. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.1 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.9 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open. In the previous session, The Dow edged up 0.2 percent, the Nasdaq rose 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 crept up 0.2 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for September delivery is adding $0.25 to $92.45 per barrel and December gold is rising $2.5 to $1618.7 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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