Investing.com - European stocks were mixed on Friday, as investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy decision and eyed the release of final euro zone inflation data due later in the trading session.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 slipped 0.17%, France’s CAC 40 eased 0.09%, while Germany’s DAX 30 inched up 0.05%.
At the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday, the Fed raised interest rates by 25 basis points and projected three more rate hikes for 2017.
It was the Fed’s first rate hike since December 2015.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) declined 0.63% and 0.40%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) added 0.06% and 0.26%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) slid 0.25% and 0.71% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) lost 0.09% and 0.32%.
SAP AG (DE:SAPG) saw shares fall 0.45% after the German company announced earlier in the week its intention to acquire U.S. company Abakus, a provider of cloud-based solutions for cross-channel marketing measurement and optimization.
On the upside, RWE AG ST O.N. (DE:RWEG) advanced 0.89% after a regional court in Germany dismissed damage claims brought by a Peruvian farmer, in which he accused the German utility of emitting carbon dioxide and contributing to raise global temperatures.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 inched up 0.02%, helped by Old Mutual PLC (LON:OML), whose shares jumped 1.46%.
The company made headlines earlier in the week after saying it had taken the first step towards breaking up its business by selling up to a quarter of the stake in its US asset management business.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were mostly lower on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) dropped 0.44% and Anglo American (LON:AAL) lost 0.56%, while Glencore (LON:GLEN) dropped 0.75%.
Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) overperformed however, as shares rallied 1.28%.
In the financial sector, stocks were mostly higher. Barclays (LON:BARC) edged up 0.07% and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) added 0.17%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) rose 0.24%. HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) underperformed, with shares down 0.54%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.02% uptick, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.07% dip, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.05% slip.