Investing.com - European stocks were lower on Friday, as tensions in Ukraine continued to weigh on market sentiment, overshadowing Thursday's comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.28%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.40%, while Germany’s DAX shed 0.33%.
Markets were jittery after pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine ignored a public call by Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone a referendum on self-rule. They said they plan to go ahead on Sunday with a vote that some fear could lead to a civil war.
European equities strengthened on Thursday, after Mario Draghi said the ECB governing council is comfortable with acting at its next meeting, after the bank has published fresh forecasts for inflation and growth.
Speaking at the ECB’s post-policy meeting press conference, Draghi said that recent weakness in inflation has been due to food and energy prices, but added that the strong euro and weak domestic demand are also pushing down inflation.
Financial stocks were mixed, as BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) slipped 0.21% and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) added 0.14% in France, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) gained 0.48%.
Among peripheral lenders however, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) lost 0.04% and 0.29% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) edged down 0.12% and 0.17%.
Elsewhere, Publicis (PARIS:PUBP) dropped 0.92% following reports it and Omnicom (NYSE:OMC) abandoned their $35 billion plan to create the world’s largest advertising company. The two companies said they were not able to overcome obstacles that slowed progress toward the deal’s completion.
In earnings news, Arcelormittal (AMS:ISPA) reported a 12% rise in first-quarter profit and reiterated its earnings target for the year. Shares in the steelmaker were still down 1.81%.
In London, FTSE 100 slid 0.24%, led by Petrofac (LONDON:PFC), whose shares sank 15.27% after the energy services group warned its 2014 net profit would fall by as much as 11% to between $580 million and $600 million, due to a poor performance from its Integrated Energy Services division.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were broadly higher, as Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) rose 0.31% and Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) gained 0.50%, while rival Randgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) rallied 0.93%.
Financial stocks were also mostly higher. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) edged up 0.18% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) added 0.31%, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) jumped 1.31%. HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) underperformed however, slipping 0.16%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately lower open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.12% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.09% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.13% slip.
Also Friday, official data showed that Germany's trade surplus narrowed to €14.8 billion in March from €15.8 billion in February, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated surplus of €15.7 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to €16.6 billion in March.