LONDON: Asian and European equity markets faltered Tuesday after a tepid lead from Wall Street, as investors awaited key speeches from powerful central bank chiefs.
London gained a slender 0.2 percent on bright news from supermarket giant Tesco and mobile phone titan Vodafone, with extra support from a weak pound.
Frankfurt and Paris however struggled as cautious trade prevailed.
Dealers are keeping an eye on a European Central Bank conference in Frankfurt on Tuesday, with speeches from Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen, ECB head Mario Draghi and Bank of England governor Mark Carney.
"Stock markets have seen tentative buying... as they look to recover from a tough few days," noted IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.
"However, with the central banking cabal of Yellen, (Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko) Kuroda, Draghi and Carney to speak today it is not surprising to see the main indices mostly tread water."
- Tesco, Vodafone soar -
Tesco topped London's risers' board, rallying 5.71 percent to 187.10 pence.
Shares bounded higher after Britain's competition regulator gave the provisional green light to the supermarket giant's takeover of wholesaler Booker worth £3.7 billion ($4.8 billion, 4.2 billion euros).
Vodafone stock surged 5.53 percent to 227.95 pence after the mobile phone group revealed it rebounded back into first-half net profit on cost-cutting and keen demand.
London won extra support from the pound, which slid as official data showed Britain's annual inflation rate held at a five-year high of 3.0 percent in October.
A weak pound tends to boost the share prices of multinationals.
Meanwhile, investors awaited movement on stalled US tax cuts with fears growing that the reform push could come off the rails.
After weeks of gains fuelled by strong earnings and optimism about the global economy, world markets have been tempered in recent days as dealers cash out and valuations sit unnervingly high.
World markets had surged on hopes for lower taxes when Donald Trump was elected US president one year ago.
Later this week, the US will also release key inflation and retail sales figures, providing markets with more clues about the Fed's plans for raising interest rates.
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