Investing.com - European stocks were steady on Friday, as the Federal Reserve's latest policy statement continued to support market sentiment, while concerns over ongoing violence in Iraq persisted.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 eased up 0.02%, France’s CAC 40 edged 0.03% higher, while Germany’s DAX inched up 0.05%.
Equities remained supported after the Fed gave no indication of when interest rates could start to rise at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. In addition, the Fed’s forecast of where interest rates might reach in the long term fell from 4% to 3.75%.
The central bank cut its bond purchases by $10 billion a month, to $35 billion, saying there was "sufficient underlying strength" in the U.S. economy to continue tapering.
However, investors remained cautious as the conflict between Sunni Islamist insurgents and Iraqi army forces continued on Friday.
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he was sending up to 300 U.S. military advisers to Iraq and that he was prepared to take "targeted" military action later if deemed necessary.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) and BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) slid 0.31% and 0.69%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) declined 0.34%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) retreated 0.37% and 0.85% respectively. Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) over performed however, up 0.01% and 0.25%.
Elsewhere, shares in Alstom (PARIS:ALSO) jumped 0.90% as Siemens (XETRA:SIEGn) improved its offer for the French company, raising the stakes in the takeover battle with General Electric (NYSE:GE).
In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.29%, led by Shire (LONDON:SHP), whose shares soared 13.34% after the pharmaceutical rejected a takeover bid from U.S. company AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) for the third time since early May.
Mining stocks were also on the upside, as Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) gained 0.42% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) climbed 0.70%, while Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) and Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) rallied 1.01% and 1.38% respectively.
In the financial sector, stocks were mostly higher. Shares in Barclays (LONDON:BARC) inched up 0.05% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) added 0.10%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) rose 0.30%.
Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) held steady, down only 0.06% after saying that it will be selling 38.5% of TSB's existing shares, more than the 25% originally expected. The bank plans to sell off the rest by December 31, 2015 under a deal with the European Commission for receiving financial support from the government in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.03% dip, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.04% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.03% downtick.
Also Friday, official data showed that German producer price inflation fell 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a 0.1% downtick in April.