European markets open lower ahead of slew of earnings

Oil major BP on Tuesday reported a nearly 70% year-on-year drop in second-quarter profits on the back of weaker fossil fuel prices, echoing a trend observed across the energy industry.

The British energy major posted second-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $2.6 billion. Analysts had expected BP to report second-quarter profit of $3.5 billion, according to estimates collated by Refinitiv.

— Sam Meredith

Second-quarter earnings season may be more than halfway through, but a packed week of crucial reports is about to kick into high gear.

Monday ushers in the busiest week of the earnings period, with almost a third of the S&P 500 reporting over the next few days, and results from more than 160 components. Headline reports from Amazon and Apple are slated for Thursday.

Earnings from popular semiconductor names Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm are on deck, along with healthcare stocks Merck, Pfizer, Amgen and CVS Health. Reports from travel-related names Uber, Airbnb, Expedia and Norwegian Cruise Line are also due.

— Samantha Subin, Robert Hum

Company insolvencies are on the rise in Britain, and analysts are expecting two U.K.-based consultancies to be big beneficiaries of that.

Investment banks Berenberg, Stifel, and Canaccord Genuity expect the stocks to go up by 30-40% over the next 12 months.

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— Ganesh Rao

Tech stocks have already had a strong year, but one corner of the sector has more “appealing” opportunities in store for investors, according to Goldman Sachs.

It named six such stocks.

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— Weizhen Tan

Hong Kong’s gross domestic product for the second quarter rose 1.5% year-on-year, according to advance estimates, sharply lower than the 3.6% rise expected in a Reuters poll.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the city’s GDP fell 1.3%, also in contrast to the 1% growth expected in the Reuters poll.

These data was also weaker compared with the first quarter GDP, which saw a 2.9% rise year-on-year and a 5.4% growth quarter-on-quarter.

— Lim Hui Jie

China’s factory activity fell into contraction territory for the first time since April, according to the Caixin survey compiled by S&P Global.

The purchasing managers index came in at 49.2 in July, in contrast to the 50.3 figure expected by economists polled by Reuters.

A PMI reading of above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.

The Caixin survey comes a day after official statistics showed that the country’s factory activity contracted for a fourth straight month, with a PMI reading of 49.3.

— Lim Hui Jie