European Stocks Trade Lower

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Despite the optimism seen in the market over the last few trading sessions, European equities were trading lower, with just a few indexes being able to hold above the break-even line.

Frankfurt's DAX fell 0.7% and the FTSE in London declined 0.5%.

S&P 500 futures had a flat Asian session, but the London open brought additional momentum into the market. Around the early European trading hours, the S&P futures saw a small attempt to move higher, but soon afterwards, the market reversed and dropped 7 points.

Only two sectors found the strength to advance in Tuesday trade. The food and beverage sector gained 0.1%, while the telecommunications companies were 0.45%. Interestingly, the European technology sector was down 0.8%, despite the positive earnings results reported by Apple(AAPL Quote) and Texas Instruments(TXN Quote).

Banks, which saw strong momentum in Monday trade, fell sharply Tuesday after Qatar Holding said it would sell an important percentage of its Barclays(BCS Quote) share exposure. This has made the financial share sector the biggest drag on European shares.

The European session was clear of any red-flag reports, but the upcoming U.S. session has a calendar loaded with important news reports, including building permits, the Producer Price Index, and housing starts. On top of this, the earnings calendar is also loaded in Tuesday trade, something that will probably be reflected in the market's price action.

Crude oil for November delivery was recently trading at $79.30 a barrel, lower by 30 cents. Crude oil tested the $80 area earlier in the session, but the market's momentum was too light for the commodity to move any higher. If the dollar continues to decline in Tuesday trade, crude oil may be able to push higher.