ING ING Groep NV

By Riva Gold 

Bank stocks led gains in global markets Tuesday as investors parsed a fresh round of corporate earnings reports.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 1.4% in morning trade, led by the financial sector.

Shares in Credit Suisse Group rose over 5% after the lender announced its first-quarter results. While it swung to its second consecutive quarterly loss, its wealth management business turned in better numbers than expected, encouraging investors.

Dutch bank ING Groep NV also gained over 5% after it reported first-quarter figures, even as higher regulatory costs weighed on profits.

Futures pointed to a 0.7% opening gain for the S&P 500. Changes in futures don't necessarily reflect market moves after the opening bell.

Stocks in Europe and the U.S. have traded within a narrow range in recent weeks, as investors struggle to reconcile a recent rebound in equity prices with a lackluster earnings season and concerns about the health of the global economy.

"The market is having a real hard time moving higher," said David Lafferty, chief market strategist at Natixis Global Asset Management.

"I see OK earnings and OK valuations, but nothing in a world of uncertainty that's making investors want to pay up for stocks," he said.

Earlier, markets in Japan led gains in Asia after the country's finance minister said it was "natural" for the government to intervene should the yen continue to rise in a one-sided way. The dollar was last up 0.6% against the yen at Yen109.0040, offering some respite for investors as a stronger yen puts pressure on Japan's exporters.

Stocks in Hong Kong and Shanghai were little changed after data showed China's inflation rate was steady for a third straight month, though producer prices beat expectations.

Australian equities rose for a fourth straight session, as the country's four biggest banks added almost 22 points to the S&P/ ASX 200. The gains outweighed losses in commodity-sensitive stocks as iron-ore prices continued to fall.

In other commodities, Brent crude oil was down for most of the Asian session, but erased earlier losses to trade up 1.4% at $44.23 a barrel.

Gold was up 0.1% at $1,267.60 an ounce.

John Letzing contributed to this article

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 10, 2016 05:47 ET (09:47 GMT)

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