European Stock Futures Steady; HSBC Results Impress By Investing.com – Investing.com

European Stock Futures Steady; HSBC Results Impress By Investing.com – Investing.com

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to open in a steady manner Monday, with investors weighing strong results from banking giant HSBC as well as China’s latest Covid-19 outbreak.

At 2:10 AM ET (0610 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.1% lower, while in France climbed 0.2% and the contract in the U.K. rose 0.1%.

HSBC (LON:), one of the largest banks in Europe, beat expectations with a 74% rise in third quarter profit, posting pretax profit of $5.4 billion versus $3.1 billion a year earlier, helped by the release of cash set aside for expected bad loans that have not materialized. It also announced a share buyback of up to $2 billion but said it wouldn't restore its dividend yet.

Also helping the tone in Europe were gains in China Evergrande Group (HK:) stock in Asia after the embattled property developer averted a costly default last week with a last-minute bond coupon payment. The group also moved Monday to prioritize growth of its electric vehicles business over its troubled core real estate operations.

That said, there are also worries that an increase in Covid-19 cases in China,