EUROPE MARKETS: Banks Support, Tech Firms Weigh In Europe

By Barbara Kollmeyer

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets tried to shake off opening losses Tuesday to push higher, as banks provided support in the wake of earnings from Citigroup, though technology stocks were weak after results from Apple Inc. and International Business Machines.

The Europe Stoxx 600 index edged up 0.1% to 266.86, after a rise of 0.3% on Monday.

Markets were trying to overcome earlier losses, with support from the financial sector. Banks rose in Asia after strong earnings from Citigroup (C) and major banks were also higher in Europe. Earnings from Goldman Sachs (GS) are due on Tuesday.

Technology stocks fell in Asia and U.S. stock futures remained weak after tech giants Apple (AAPL) and IBM (IBM) posted better-than-forecast results on Monday, but shares fell in after hours trading. Apple disappointed over its outlook and iPad sales, while for IBM the focus was on a fall in new contracts.

Negative sentiment on tech stocks spilled over to some of Europe's biggest tech stocks. In London, shares of ARM Holdings PLC fell 2.1%, helping to drag the FTSE 100 index down 0.1% to 5,734.55.

Shares of Autonomy Corp. edged up 0.2%. The company said third-quarter profit rose 22% on a sales gain of 9.9%. Autonomy sees "upside" to the current market consensus for 2011 earnings.

On the upside, shares of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) rose 2%, and shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC added 1.1%.

In Paris, the CAC-40 index traded flat at 3,833.59. Shares of Societe Generale SA rose nearly 2% and Natixis SA added 1.5%.

On the downside, shares of Capgemini fell 0.5% and Alcatel-Lucent lost 0.8%.

In Germany, Infineon Technologies AG fell 1.7%, while Deutsche Bank (DB) rose 2.5% and Commerzbank was up 1.6%. The German DAX 30 index rose 0.2% to 6,527.08.