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European stocks edge higher ahead of ECB, BoE statements; Dax up 0.01%

Published 06/06/2013, 03:49 AM
Updated 06/06/2013, 03:50 AM

Investing.com - European stocks edged higher on Thursday, as markets awaited the European Central Bank and the Bank of England's policy statements later in the day.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 added 0.12%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.17%, while Germany’s DAX 30 inched up 0.01%.

The ECB was not widely expected to make any changes to monetary policy at its monthly meeting later Thursday but the bank’s post-policy meeting press conference with President Mario Draghi would be closely watched.

Stocks also found support after data on Wednesday showing that the U.S. private sector added far fewer-than-expected jobs in May dampened expectations that the Federal Reserve would start to unwind its asset purchase program this year.

Financial stocks were mixed. In France, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale were flat, while Germany's Deutsche Bank gained 0.61%.

Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander rose 0.28% and 0.72% respectively, while Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit declined 0.29% and 0.56%.

In London, FTSE 100 eased up 0.02% ahead of the Bank of England's monthly policy decision.

Johnson Matthey led gains, surging 7.58%, as the U.K. platinum refiner and producer of auto-catalysts posted underlying pretax profit that slipped to GBP389.2 million in the full-year ending in March, still beating the GBP379.1 million estimate .

Meanwhile, mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were on the downside, declined 0.83% and 0.58% respectively, while Anglo American dropped 0.67%.

Financial stocks were also mostly lower, as shares in Lloyds Banking slid 0.71% and the Royal Bank of Scotland retreated 0.76%, while Barclays plummeted 1.98%. HSBC Holdings tumbled 1.09%.

Bloomberg reported earlier that Nomura Holdingsis selling 84.5 million shares in Barclays on behalf of an investor at 308.5 pence a share to market price.

Elsewhere, RSA, which insures cars, homes and ships in the U.K., Scandinavia and emerging markets, jumped 1.59% after Morgan Stanley raised its rating on the stock to "overweight" from "underweight".

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.21% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.31% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.20% gain.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly report on initial jobless claims.


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