Investing.com - European stocks were mixed in cautious trade on Wednesday, as investors eyed the U.K. annual budget release due later in the day, as well as a batch of fresh earnings reports.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.24%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.04%, while Germany’s DAX 30 inched up 0.05%.
Financial stocks were higher, as French lenders Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) and BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) inched up 0.08% and 0.10%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) rose 0.27% and 0.35%.
Among peripheral lenders however, Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) was flat and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) retreated 0.87% in Italy, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) fell 0.18% and 0.25%.
Elsewhere, Adidas AG (DE:ADSGN) surged 7.93% after the German sportswear company’s new CEO, Kasper Rorsted, hiked sales and profit targets and announced plans to increase e-commerce sales, simplify business processes and keep investing heavily in the U.S. market.
On the downside, Deutsche Post (DE:DPWGn) plummeted 2.51% even as the German postal and logistics company said it expects demand for parcel deliveries from online shopping to drive another rise in profit this year after the company met forecasts for 2016.
The group also said on Wednesday that it delivered a record 1.2 billion parcels in Germany last year, a 9.2% increase compared to 2015.
In London, FTSE 100 dipped 0.06%, weighed by Capita PLC (LON:CPI), whose shares tumbled 1.35% after analysts at Peel Hunt reaffirmed their ‘reduce’ rating on the stock.
Rangold Resources also weighed on the commodity-heavy index, with shares retreating 1.88%, although other mining stocks were broadly higher.
Shares in BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) climbed 0.41% and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) advanced 0.90%, while rival company Glencore (LON:GLEN) rallied 1.92%.
Financial stocks were also on the upside, as HSBC Holding edged up 0.17% and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) rose 0.24%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and Barclays (LON:BARC) gained 0.40% and 0.64% respectively.
Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) was one of the top performers on the index, with shares up 1.17% after the inspection and certification company reported a 11.6% climb in pre-tax profits to £387.3 million, helped by a 8.8% rise in full-year revenue.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady to lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.04% dip, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.08% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.04% downtick.