Investing.com - European stocks were mixed on Wednesday, as investors were still cautious following Monday’s two terrorist attacks and as trading volumes began to lighten ahead of the Christmas holiday.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.03%, France’s CAC 40 inched 0.07% lower, while Germany’s DAX 30 eased up 0.09%.
Market sentiment soured after Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was shot and killed at an art gallery in the Turkish capital of Ankara Monday evening.
A few hours later, a truck plowed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring up to 50 others.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) rose 0.21% and 0.24%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) gained 0.55% and 0.86%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) edged up 0.16% and 0.29% respectively, while Spanish bank BBVA (MC:BBVA) added 0.28%.
Mediaset (DE:MS) added to gains, with shares up 3.02% after Vivendi (PA:VIV) said earlier in the week that it intends to extend its stake in the Italian media company up to the 30% threshold.
Shares in Vivendi climbed 0.82% Wednesday morning.
Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) saw shares rally 1.01% after the German carmaker confirmed that it will spend an additional $1 billion to settle claims in the U.S. over the emissions test scandal.
In London, FTSE 100 edged up 0.11%, helped by Rolls-Royce (LON:RR), whose shares jumped 1.33% after the company received a contract worth nearly $408 million to provide maintenance support for U.S. Army vertical take-off aircraft engines.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as Barclays (LON:BARC) added 0.18% and Barclays rose 0.20%, while Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) gained 0.39% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) advanced 0.64%.
Mining stocks were also higher on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) edged up 0.15% and 0.18% respectively, while Glencore (LON:GLEN) climbed 0.44% and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) rallied 1.47%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady to higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.09% rise, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.01% uptick, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.04% gain.