Investing.com - European stocks were steady in choppy trade on Thursday, as the release of disappointing economic reports out of China dampened market sentiment and as the European Central Bank's latest policy move continued to weigh.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 eased 0.06%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.02%, while Germany’s DAX 30 inched up 0.04%.
Investors remained cautious after data showed that Chinese industrial production rose 8.6% in the first two months of 2014, missing market expectations for an increase of 9.5%, while Chinese retail sales rose by a smaller-than-forecast 11.8% in the same period.
The data added to concerns over the strength of the world’s second-largest economy.
Meanhile, European equities remained under pressure after the European Central Bank's decision last week to refrain from implementing policy measures to shore up growth in the euro area, despite forecasting low inflation for some years to come.
Speaking Wednesday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said interest rates in the euro zone are too low from a German point of view. He also said he doesn’t expect deflation to materialize in the euro zone.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale fell 0.12% and 0.50%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank declined 0.72%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA eased 0.06% and 0.21%. Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit overperformed however, rising 0.13% and 0.50% respectively.
Elsewhere, Bouygues shares were down 1.26% after the company raised the cash component of its offer for Vivendi's French phone unit SFR to €11.3 billion to top a competing bid from cable billionaire Patrick Drahi.
Adding to losses, Adecco SA dove 8.33% after its largest investor said it will sell about 16% in the provider of temporary workers.
In London, FTSE 100 dipped 0.05%, led by Morrison, down 9.10%, after the U.K. grocer said profit will plunge this year and pledged to sell £1 billion of property.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed. Lloyds Banking slipped 0.29% and the Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 0.52%, while HSBC Holdings climbed 0.69% and Barclays jumped 1.08%.
On the upside, mining giants Glencore Xstrata and Randgold Resources rose 0.26% and 0.86% respectively, while rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto advanced 0.56% and 1.41% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.10% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.14% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.19% increase.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on retail sales and import prices, in addition to the weekly government report on initial jobless claims.