Investing.com - European stocks were lower on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the Bank of England's upcoming inflation report and following news five banks were fined for forex manipulation.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 retreated 0.86%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.60%, while Germany’s DAX tumbled 0.91%.
European equities had strengthened earlier in the week after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said late last week that the ECB would soon begin purchasing asset-backed securities to prop up the economy.
But markets were hit after regulators in the U.S., the U.K. and Switzerland ordered five banks to pay about $3.3 billion to settle a probe into the rigging of foreign-exchange rates.
UBS (SIX:UBSN), up 0.72%, was ordered to pay the most at $800 million. The four other lenders to be fined were Citigroup (NYSE:C), JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA).
European financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) tumbled 1.23% and 0.96%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) lost 0.99%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) plummeted 1.21% and 1.80% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) declined 0.71% and 0.94%.
Elsewhere, Telefonica (MADRID:TEF) gained 0.45% after reporting that the pace of its revenue decline in Spain had slowed.
In London, FTSE 100 slipped 0.32%, led by Capita Plc (LONDON:CPI), down 5.22% after the outsourcing group said it was on track to achieve at least 8% organic growth for the full year, after winning £1.63 billion worth of major new contracts.
U.K. lenders were also mostly lower, as the Royal Bank of Scotland edged down 0.11% and HSBC Holdings slid 0.30%, while Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) declined 0.77%. Barclays (LONDON:BARC) tumbled 1.71% after announcing that it is not ready to reach an agreement with regulators in the aforementioned currency-rigging investigation.
In earnings news, Burberry Group (LONDON:BRBY) reported a 12% slump in first-half earnings due to lower demand in Asia, sending shares in the luxury-goods company down 0.98%.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were mostly higher. Shares in Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) edged up 0.07% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) added 0.27%, while Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) gained 0.40% and Randgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) advanced 0.90%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.21% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled an 0.24% loss, while the NASDAQ 100 futures indicated a 0.26% decline.
Later in the day, the euro zone was to produce data on industrial production.