Investing.com - European stocks were lower on Tuesday, after downbeat comments by European Central Bank governing council member Ewald Nowotny on Monday and as Italian political woes remained also remained in focus.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.28%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.25%, while Germany’s DAX 30 eased 0.05%.
ECB governing council member Ewald Nowotny said on Monday that a negative deposit rate from the ECB may fail to stimulate more lending and could have an adverse psychological effect.
In Italy, Democratic Party Secretary Matteo Renzi, who is set to become Italy's youngest prime minister, met with President Giorgio Napolitano on Monday who gave him a mandate to form a government.
Renzi now has to form a coalition deal before a formal vote of confidence in parliament later this week.
Financial stocks were mmixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale declined 0.62% and 0.16%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank gained 0.43% and 0.38%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA retreated 0.73% and 0.77% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo rose 0.04% and 0.96%.
Elsewhere, Casino Guichard-Perrachon surged 3.09% after reporting an 18% rise in 2013 earnings.
Pandora rallied 2.61% after the Danish jeweler said fourth-quarter net income climbed 76% to USD136 million, beating analysts' estimates.
In London, FTSE 100 slipped 0.16%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower.
Shares in Lloyds Banking dropped 0.61% and HSBC Holdings lost 0.68%, while Barclays tumbled 1.12%. The Royal Bank of Scotland overperformed however, up 0.85%.
Mining stocks were also broadly lower, as Rio Tinto declined 0.83% and Glencore Xstrata lost 1%, while Vedanta Resources plummeted 1.30%
On the upside, Drax Group advanced 0.60%, even as the power producer posted 2013 earnings of GBP230 million, a drop of 23% from a year earlier.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.14% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.08% uptick, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.11% gain.
Later in the day, the euro zone was to publish data on the current account and the ZEW Institute was to release its closely watched report on German economic sentiment.
The U.S. was to release data on manufacturing activity in the Empire State.