Investing.com - European stocks were mixed on Thursday, after a batch of mixed corporate earnings reports and as the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but signaled the possibility for a rate hike before the end of the year.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 inched up 0.04%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.23%, while Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.18%.
At the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged and said that it would assess whether the U.S. economy had strengthened enough to warrant higher interest rates at its December meeting.
Investors were looking ahead to revised U.S. economic growth data, as well as the weekly report on jobless claims due later in the day, for further indications on the strength of the economy.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) rose 0.20% and 0.15%, while Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) lost 1.09% and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) edged up 0.15% in Germany.
Earlier Thursday, Deutsche Bank reported higher-than-expected trading income and said it plans to cut 26,000 jobs by 2018.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MI:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) added 0.08% and 0.18% respectively, while BBVA (MC:BBVA) gained 0.55% and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) tumbled 1.44% in Spain.
Elsewhere, Bayer AG (DE:BAYGN) gained 0.54% after the German pharmaceutical company posted third-quarter profit that exceeded analysts' estimates.
Nokia Oyj (HE:NOKIA) added to gains, with shares soaring 10.12% after announcing plans to give €4 billion to shareholders in dividends and buybacks.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 declined 0.82%, weighed by sharp losses in the mining sector.
Shares in Rio Tinto (L:RIO) plummeted 2.82% and Bhp Billiton (L:BLT) lost 4.15%, while rivals Randgold Resources (L:RRS) and Anglo American (L:AAL) plunged 4.18% and 4.48% respectively.
Oil and gas major BP (L:BP) added to losses, with shares down 1.28%, while Royal Dutch Shell (L:RDSa) Plc retreated 1.81% after reporting its biggest net loss in at least a decade as it wrote down the value of assets and lowered its oil-price expectations.
Financial stocks were also on the downside, as HSBC Holdings (L:HSBA) slipped 0.19% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS) dropped 0.83%, while Lloyds Banking (L:LLOY) tumbled 1.81% and Barclays (L:BARC) dove 3.67%.
Barclays earlier reported a 10% decline in third-quarter profit, missing analysts' projections.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.36% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.35% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.47% decline.