Investing.com - European stocks declined on Wednesday, as market sentiment weakened ahead of a number of highly anticipated euro zone meetings this week, amid speculation fresh steps could be taken toward tackling the region’s sovereign debt crisis.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 retreated 0.83%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.80%, while Germany’s DAX 30 tumbled 0.92%.
Investors remained cautious as Luxemburg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who also heads the group of euro zone finance ministers, was to hold talks with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras later Wednesday, to discuss a two-year extension of the country’s economic reform program.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet with French President Francois Hollande on Thursday, while Antonis Samaras is to meet with the French and German leaders later in the week.
Stocks were boosted on Tuesday, after the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper said earlier that it could confirm weekend reports that the ECB may set a cap on peripheral euro zone bond yields at its next policy meeting in September.
Market participants were also anticipating the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s August policy meeting later in the day, amid speculation over how close the U.S. central bank may be to implementing another round of stimulus measures.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, led by Spanish lenders BBVA and Banco Santander, down 1.51% and 1.40% respectively.
Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank also contributed to losses, with shares declining 0.07% and 0.94%, while French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas lost 0.88% and 0.06%.
Elsewhere, Heineken plunged 2.44%, after posting first-half earnings that missed analysts’ estimates due to higher costs.
Also on the downside, STMicroelectronics dropped 0.77% after U.S. rival company Dell cut its profit projection for this year on diminishing demand for personal computers.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 tumbled 0.97%, led by sharp losses in mining stocks.
Evraz saw shares dive 4.53%, while Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton plummeted 2.69% and 1.89% respectively.
BHP reported earlier that its full year net profit fell by 35% to USDUS15.42 billion, due to lower commodity prices and high write-downs on US, shale, Australian nickel and its Australian Olympic Dam project.
The mining giant added that it won't approve any new projects until at least mid-2013 and it expects more volatility in commodity markets in the short term due to weakness in manufacturing and construction sectors.
Copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys added to gains, with shares retreating 1.34% and 3.67% respectively.
Meanwhile, U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland plummeted 1.41% and Barclays dropped 0.97%, while HSBC Holdings and Lloyds Banking lost 0.77% and 0.40%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.21% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.32% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.28% loss.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release industry data on existing home sales.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 retreated 0.83%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.80%, while Germany’s DAX 30 tumbled 0.92%.
Investors remained cautious as Luxemburg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who also heads the group of euro zone finance ministers, was to hold talks with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras later Wednesday, to discuss a two-year extension of the country’s economic reform program.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet with French President Francois Hollande on Thursday, while Antonis Samaras is to meet with the French and German leaders later in the week.
Stocks were boosted on Tuesday, after the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper said earlier that it could confirm weekend reports that the ECB may set a cap on peripheral euro zone bond yields at its next policy meeting in September.
Market participants were also anticipating the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s August policy meeting later in the day, amid speculation over how close the U.S. central bank may be to implementing another round of stimulus measures.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, led by Spanish lenders BBVA and Banco Santander, down 1.51% and 1.40% respectively.
Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank also contributed to losses, with shares declining 0.07% and 0.94%, while French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas lost 0.88% and 0.06%.
Elsewhere, Heineken plunged 2.44%, after posting first-half earnings that missed analysts’ estimates due to higher costs.
Also on the downside, STMicroelectronics dropped 0.77% after U.S. rival company Dell cut its profit projection for this year on diminishing demand for personal computers.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 tumbled 0.97%, led by sharp losses in mining stocks.
Evraz saw shares dive 4.53%, while Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton plummeted 2.69% and 1.89% respectively.
BHP reported earlier that its full year net profit fell by 35% to USDUS15.42 billion, due to lower commodity prices and high write-downs on US, shale, Australian nickel and its Australian Olympic Dam project.
The mining giant added that it won't approve any new projects until at least mid-2013 and it expects more volatility in commodity markets in the short term due to weakness in manufacturing and construction sectors.
Copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys added to gains, with shares retreating 1.34% and 3.67% respectively.
Meanwhile, U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland plummeted 1.41% and Barclays dropped 0.97%, while HSBC Holdings and Lloyds Banking lost 0.77% and 0.40%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.21% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.32% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.28% loss.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release industry data on existing home sales.