By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- European markets opened in the green on Tuesday, spurred on by a lift in sentiment in Asia, where stocks jumped on news that China will ease some COVID restrictions.
As of 03:34 AM EST (0734 GMT), the pan-European STOXX 600 index traded 0.32% higher at 416.40. Germany's DAX, the CAC 40 in France and the FTSE in the U.K. also rose.
The moves come after Asian shares recovered from earlier losses to climb back into positive territory following an announcement from Beijing that the COVID quarantine requirement period for overseas visitors will be halved to seven days. Travelers will then need to spend a further three days at home.
The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 in Shanghai closed 1.04% higher at 4,490.52, while the Hang Seng index was up 1.14% at 22,466.00.
The positive boost in European indices was tempered by disappointing consumer sentiment data from Germany. The latest GfK German consumer climate index fell to -27.4 in July from a revised -26.2 the previous month as shoppers in the Eurozone’s largest economy struggled with hefty price rises.
Investors will be keeping an eye on a meeting of European Central Bank officials in Sintra, Portugal, hoping to get more clues about the ECB's plans to rein in soaring inflation and avoid fragmentation in the eurozone bond markets. ECB President Christine Lagarde is due to speak later this morning.
Elsewhere, the leaders of the Group of Seven major economies meet for the third day of their summit in Germany having pledged to stand with Ukraine "for as long as it takes" following Russia’s invasion.
The G7 leaders were ready to grant or had already pledged or provided up to $29.5 billion in 2022 to help Ukraine close its financing gap, according to a statement from the meeting on Monday.
Russian troops were accused on Tuesday of a missile strike on a shopping mall in central Ukraine which killed at least 18 people, an attack condemned by the United Nations and the West.
In corporate news, Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) shares rose after the Wall Street Journal reported that the German auto giant is close to selling a minority stake in its U.S. electric-vehicle charge business to an arm of Siemens.
Akzo Nobel NV (AS:AKZO) also named Gregoire Poux-Guillaume as its new chief executive, with effect from the beginning of November. Shares in the Dutch chemicals company slumped by more than 3% on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, oil prices climbed for a third day as a couple of major producers indicated output cuts, exacerbating supply tightness, while the G7 nations discussed increasing the pressure on Russia.
Both Libya and Ecuador signaled a potential reduction in global supply due to political difficulties in their respective countries. This comes ahead of this week’s meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+, which is likely to result in moderate production increases.
Elsewhere, G7 leaders are discussing a proposal to cap the price of Russian oil, the latest move to limit Moscow's finances, but which could easily further increase the shortages in global oil and refined product markets.
By 03:22 AM EST (0722 GMT), U.S. crude futures traded 1.87% higher $111.62 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1.87% to $113.04 a barrel.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.22% to $1,828.90/oz, while EUR/USD traded near the flatline at 1.0588.