European Stocks Slightly Higher

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- European markets were trading slightly above the break-even line Tuesday, recovering a small percentage of the declines seen in trading Monday. However, the vast majority of companies were trading flat with gains coming almost exclusively from the energy sector.

The increases in the commodity sector were best reflected in the U.K. FTSE, where the raw material companies have an important weight in the index. Since the session started, the FTSE has advanced 0.4%, while France's CAC gained 0.4% and Germany's DAX traded higher by 0.2%.

The financial sector continued to decline at a very strong pace in European trade, extending the declines seen during the prior day of trading. In Germany, Commerzbank plunged 4.5%, while in the U.K. Barclays(BCS Quote) and Lloyds(LYG Quote) were trading lower.

In Switzerland, banks were a little more sheltered from these strong declines, but still the banking sector is the worst performer of the day. Credit Suisse (CS Quote) lost 1.8%, while UBS(UBS Quote) declined 1.2% on Tuesday.

The selling seen in the financial sector comes after ING(ING Quote) was forced to split its insurance and banking units, which makes some investors believe that other financial corporations will be likely to follow suit.

Despite the selling of financials, European markets were helped by gains in the energy industry. This happened after BP(BP Quote) and Vestas Wind managed to beat analysts' expectations.

Traders in the U.S. are awaiting Tuesday reports on consumer confidence and the Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

Crude oil for December delivery was recently trading at $79.12, up by 44 cents.