The UK market is marginally higher in afternoon trading Tuesday, even as sovereign debt concerns remained in focus in the region.
European finance ministers asked Greece to do more to improve its fiscal position to fetch extra aid, while approving a three-year bailout package worth 78 billion euros ($115 billion) for Portugal to help the EU member-nation resolve its financial problems.
Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup panel of eurozone finance ministers, has reportedly said at the finance ministers meet in Brussels, that a reprofiling of Greek debt is possible by asking the private creditors to extend the maturities on their bonds. He also indicated that such a move will come only if the debt-ridden country unveils fresh measures to meet its deficit goals.
Juncker said Greek debt restructuring is no option for euro area troubles, while debt reprofiling is possible. Greek should implement the promised privatization program to the satisfaction of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, he said.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chippers is rising 0.09 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is adding 0.06 percent.
The FTSE 100 index opened at 5,923 and has been trading in the range of 5,891 - 5,941. The index is currently adding 0.06 percent.
Essar Energy is climbing 3.8 percent after providing a trading update. Vodafone, which reported higher full year pre-tax profit, is advancing 3.2 percent.
BG Group is up 2.2 percent and BP is adding 1.4 percent.
Miners Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Vedanta Resources and BHP Billiton are advancing between 2 percent and 0.7 percent.
Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Standard Chartered are gaining.
Outside the main index, Babcock International is surging 5.9 percent as the company reported a jump in revenues for the year.
Diageo is down 1.4 percent. Merrill Lynch raised its price target on the stock to 1350 pence from 1280 pence.
Those making notable losses include chipmaker Arm Holdings and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is losing 0.50 percent and the French CAC 40 is losing 0.10 percent. Switzerland's SMI is losing 0.32 percent.
In economic news, inflation in the U.K. rose more than expected in April, reaching the highest rate since September 2008, the Office for National Statistics said. Inflation jumped to 4.5 percent in April from 4 percent in March. Economists had expected the rate to rise to 4.1 percent. Meanwhile, core inflation climbed to its highest level on record.
Germany's economic sentiment deteriorated more-than-expected in May. The ZEW indicator of economic sentiment dropped to 3.1 from 7.6 in April, the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research said. Economists were looking for a reading of 4.5.
Meanwhile, Eurozone May ZEW economic sentiment fell to 13.6 from 19.7 in April. Economists were expecting a reading of 17.3.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets had a mixed outing. Australia's All Ordinaries gained 0.61 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.13 percent, and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.09 percent. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.26 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages ended the day in the red. The Nasdaq plunged 1.6 percent, while the Dow fell 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 slid 0.6 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for June delivery is adding $0.08 to $97.45 per barrel and June gold is rising $3.9 to $1494.5 a troy ounce.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.