Investing.com - European stocks turned steady to higher on Wednesday, after China said it will accelerate economic policy changes to promote growth, although ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine and concerns that the U.K. may be heading for a split continued to weigh.
During European afternoon trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 eased 0.02%, France’s CAC 40 inched 0.04% higher, while Germany’s DAX dipped 0.04%.
Sentiment mildly recovered after China's government said the country will deepen policy changes to ensure a medium to high growth rate.
But investors still remained cautious as European Union representatives were set to meet Wednesday in Brussels to discuss tougher economic sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine crisis.
Earlier in the week, the EU had to put on hold a second package of economic penalties.
Markets were also jittery after recent opinion polls showed that support for Scottish pro-independence voters increased ahead of the September 18 referendum.
Financial stocks turned broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) gained 0.69% and 1.01%, while Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) rallied 1.40%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) rose 0.28% and 0.53 respectively, while Spanish bank BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) added 0.31%.
Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN), Spain's biggest bank, remained on the downside however, with shares tumbling 1.18%, after announcing the death of Chairman Emilio Botin.
Elsewhere, Audi AG (XETRA:NSUG) gained 0.45% after the auto maker said it was planning to introduce technology to enable autonomous driving in urban traffic.
In London, FTSE 100 added 0.12%, still led by Kingfisher (LONDON:KGF), up 2.67%, after the home-improvement retailer said Ian Cheshire will step down as chief executive officer. He will be succeeded by Veronique Laury, currently the head of the French Castorama unit.
Financial stocks were also mostly higher, the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) edged up 0.17% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) added 0.24%, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) climbed 0.84%. Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) underperformed on the other hand, as shares slumped 0.35%.
In the mining sector, stocks remained on the upside. Shares in Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) rose 0.23% and Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) advanced 0.59%, while rivals Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) gained 0.42% and 0.69% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady to higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to an 0.06% uptick, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.07% gain, while the NASDAQ 100 futures indicated a 0.14% rise.
Also Wednesday, official data showed that French industrial production rose 0.2% in July, condounfing expectations for a 0.4% fall. June's figure was revised to a 1.2% increase from a previously estimated 1.3% gain.