Investing.com - European stocks opened higher on Wednesday, tracking their Asian counterparts as declining expectations for a U.S. rate hike before the end of the year continued to support equities.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 gained 0.31%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.15%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.30%.
Weak U.S. jobs data released last Friday underlined fears that a slowdown in global economic growth has spread to the U.S. economy and prompted investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike by the Federal Reserve to early 2016.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) rose 0.30% and 0.54%, while Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) gained 0.57% and 0.93%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spain's BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) advanced 0.62% and 1%. Italian banks Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) underperformed however, with shares sliding 0.43% and 0.80% respectively.
Elsewhere, Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia (HEL:NOKIA) declined 0.40% after annoucing management and organizational plans amid the completion of its €15.6 billion takeover of France's Alcatel-Lucent (PARIS:ALUA).
On the upside, Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) surged 3.10% after new chief executive Matthias Mueller said the company will launch a recall for cars affected by its diesel emissions crisis in January and complete the fix by the end of next year.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 edged up 0.15%, helped by sharp gains in the mining sector.
Shares in Antofagasta (LONDON:ANTO) surged 3.54% and Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) climbed 4.01%, while rivals Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) and Anglo American (LONDON:AAL) soared 4.49% and 5.54% respectively.
Adding to gains, SABMiller PLC (LONDON:SAB) saw shares rally 3.15% after brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev raised its bid for the company on Wednesday, proposing to buy it for £42.15 per share in cash.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mostly lower, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) slipped 0.18% and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) fell 0.21%, while HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) shed 0.27%. Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) overperformed, with shares edging up 0.16%.
Shares in Tesco (LONDON:TSCO) plummeted 2.21% after the retailer reported a 55% decline in first-half operating profit.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.31% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.30% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.43% increase.