Investing.com - European stocks opened lower on Wednesday, as investors grew more cautious ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen highly anticipated speech on Friday and as declining oil prices weighed.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.23%, France’s CAC 40 edged 0.17% lower, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.20%.
Market participants are waiting to see if Yellen will restate the hawkish view of the economy expressed by Fed officials last week or echo the minutes of the Fed’s July meeting, which indicated that officials are divided on when to raise rates.
Meanwhile, lower oil prices weighed on energy-related stocks on Wednesday, as French oil and gas major Total SA (PA:TOTF) tumbled 1.10% and Italy’s ENI (MI:ENI) declined 0.73%, while Russian rival Gazprom (MCX:GAZP) fell 0.29%.
Financial stocks were also mostly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) slipped 0.20% and 0.16%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) dropped 0.38% and 0.87%.
Among peripheral lenders, stocks were mixed however. Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) edged down 0.11% and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) gained 0.77% in Italy, while BBVA (MC:BBVA) rose 0.31% and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) retreated 0.48% in Spain.
Elsewhere, Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) slipped 0.13% after the German carmaker settled a dispute with two of its suppliers that had been running for days and weighing on the company’s output.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 fell 0.27%, weighed by sharp losses in the mining sector.
Shares in Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) tumbled 1.47% and Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) lost 2.17%, while rivals BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Anglo American (LON:AAL) plummeted 2.23% and 2.89% respectively.
Financial stocks added to losses, as HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) declined 0.47% and Barclays (LON:BARC) dropped 0.88%m while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) retreated 0.92%. Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) overperformed, with shares climbing 0.44%.
Meanwhile, WPP (LON:WPP) was one of the best performers on the index, with shares surging 4.89% after the advertising company said first-half revenue climbed 11.9% and raised its full-year target.
Persimmon (LON:PSN) was also on the upside, with shares rallying 2.14% after the housebuilder reported a 29% increase in first-half profits.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady to lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.09% loss, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.05% dip, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.06% downtick.