European stocks little changed

On Tuesday European stocks were little changed in a sign of investor caution on the day of the U.S. presidential election, the run-up to which has roiled equity markets.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added less than 0.1 percent at 10:53 a.m. in London, with the volume of shares changing hands 15 percent lower than the 30-day average. The equity benchmark jumped 1.5 percent on Monday, breaking its longest spell without gains since 1994, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation reiterated its decision not to seek criminal charges against Hillary Clinton. Most opinion polls show the Democratic nominee ahead of Republican Donald Trump.

While concern about Clinton’s prospects dominated investor sentiment in recent sessions, worries about the health of corporate Europe and central-bank policy tightening have also weighed on stocks since they reached a fourmonth high in September. Traders are pricing in an 80 percent chance the Federal Reserve will raise rates next month.

The Stoxx 600 is down 8.7 percent in 2016, on track to end a four-year rally. Still, investors may find comfort in the current earnings season: Sixty-two percent of the benchmark’s companies beat profit estimates relative to forecasts so far, JPMorgan equity strategists said in a note Tuesday, and 48 percent beat on sales.

Asian stocks climbed for a second day as polls showed Hillary Clinton ahead of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election before Americans head to the polls on Tuesday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.4 percent to 137.92 as of 4:01 p.m. in Hong Kong, led by raw material and consumer discretionary stocks, following a 0.5 percent advance on Monday. The Shanghai Composite Index closed at a 10-month high as speculation that Clinton will win outweighed a larger-than-expected drop in Chinese exports.