Europe midday: Stocks maintain losses as investors eye Powell testimony

European stocks were still in the red by midday on Tuesday amid a mixed batch of corporate news, as investors eyed a speech by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 index was down 0.2% to 383.15, Germany's DAX was 0.2% lower at 12,538.85 and France's CAC 40 was 0.2% weaker at 5,387.56.

Jerome Powell's two-day Congressional testimony kicks off at 1500 BST.

Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM, said: "It will be interesting to hear his views on the flat yield curve and whether he shares Neel Kashkari’s opinion that the US economy may fall into a recession if short-term yields rise above the long-dated ones, indicating that the Fed needs to slow down the pace of tightening policy.

"However, trade tensions and fiscal policy are the two critical topics where Democrats will likely attack the Fed Chair and clarify whether the Federal Reserve has the necessary tools to avoid any disruption."

Meanwhile, Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADSS, said: "We know that Powell holds a hawkish view over the economy but the question is whether his outlook will be swayed by the prospect of a worsening relationship between the US and its trade partners."

In corporate news, Casino rallied after the French supermarket retailer said sales accelerated in the second quarter thanks to an improvement in its core French market and in Brazil, while Thyssenkrupp gained after its chairman quit, raising expectations of a restructuring at the company.

Swedish medical technology company Getinge surged after a sales update, while in London, Royal Mail rallied as it warned that annual addressed letter volumes would decline more than expected due to the impact of the GDPR, but said trading in the first quarter was in line with its expectations

On the downside, Norway's Telenor declined after its second-quarter results fell short of expectations and Swedish manufacturer Husqvarna was under the cosh after the power tools maker's second-quarter numbers missed forecasts.