Investing.com - European stocks edged higher on Friday, helped by comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi made on Thursday.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 gained 0.18%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.12%, while Germany’s DAX 30 edged up 0.08%.
ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that an adjustment to the bank’s stimulus program could come in December, saying its assessment would benefit from new economic projections to be drawn up by ECB forecasters.
The comments came after the ECB left interest rates unchanged at record lows of zero earlier Thursday and kept the deposit facility rate at -0.4%.
Financial stocks were mixed, as BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) inched up 0.02% and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) dipped 0.02% in France, while Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) slipped 0.15% and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) edged up 0.12% in Germany.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) lost 0.05% and 0.36% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MC:SAN) and BBVA (MC:BBVA) climbed 0.56% and 0.42%.
Elsewhere, SAP AG (DE:SAPG) surged 2.45% after saying that third-quarter revenue increased 8%, beating analysts’ estimates.
On the downside, Daimler AG NA O.N. (DE:DAIGn) shares plummeted 3.08%, even after the German luxury car maker reported sharply higher third-quarter profit, helped by strong sales of its new E-class models, sport-utility vehicles and positive currency effects.
In London, FTSE 100 edged up 0.19%, boosted by Informa, whose shares rallied 2.25% after the company’s $1.2 billion acquisition of Penton Information Services was cleared by US antitrust authorities.
Mining stocks added to gains on the commodity-heavy index. BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) climbed 0.49% and Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) both advanced 0.60%.
In the financial sector, also mostly higher. Shares in Barclays (LON:BARC) added 0.16% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) rose 0.30%, while Barclays gained 0.33%. Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) underperformed however, with shares down 0.68%
Meanwhile, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (LON:IHG) was one of the worst performers on the index, as shares tumbled 1.46% even after the group said third-quarter revenue per room rose 1.3%, boosted by an increase in the U.S.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady to lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.20% fall, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.20% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.03% dip.