Investing.com - European stocks were higher on Wednesday, as the announcement on Monday that the European Central Bank began its asset purchases lent support.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rallied 1.02%, France’s CAC 40 jumped 1.18%, while Germany’s DAX 30 advanced 0.96%.
European equities found support as the ECB began purchasing securities as part of an asset-buying program amounting to €60 billion a month.
However concerns over the situation in Greece persisted, as the eurogroup of finance ministers continued talks in Brussels to discuss a reform package put forward by Greece as part of its bailout review.
Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned Tuesday that Greece must stop wasting time and start developing its reform package.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) rallied 1.02% and 0.92%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) climbed 0.53% and 1.15%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) advanced 0.49% and 0.53% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) gained 0.64% and 1.01%.
Elsewhere, Adecco SA (SIX:ADEN) surged 2.18% after the Swiss provider of temporary workers posted better-than-expected net income for 2014.
On the downide, Deutsche Post AG (XETRA:DPWGn) plunged 3.57% as postal service compay reported worse-than-expected quarterly earnings and said operating profit growth this year may be limited to less than 3%.
In London, FTSE 100 gained 0.51%, led by international packaging company Mondi Plc (LONDON:MNDI), whose shares surged 1.60% after the stock's "buy" rating was reiterated by Deutsche Bank.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mostly lower. Shares in HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) slipped 0.21% and 0.22% respectively, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) fell 0.26%. Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) overperformed on the other hand, advancing 0.44%.
Mining stocks were mixed on the commodity-heavy index. Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) saw shares edge down 0.08% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) slipped 0.15%, while Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) added 0.12% and Randgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) climbed 0.72%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.27% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.36% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.25% gain.