European stocks erase losses, focus on G20 summit; Dax up 0.17%

Investing.com - European stocks erased losses on Tuesday, as investors continued to await an upcoming G20 summit, due to begin on Friday.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.53%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.45%, while Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.17%.

Market sentiment was boosted after Swiss National Bank head Thomas Jordan defended actions by the Bank of Japan to defeat inflation and said that global central banks are not engaged in a currency war.

The statement came ahead of G20 meeting starting Friday, which is likely to feature discussions on competitive currency devaluations.

Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas jumped 1.17% and 1.90%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank declined 0.27% and 0.60%.

Meanwhile, peripheral lenders turned broadly higher, with Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA rallying 0.68% and 1.63%, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo climbed % and 0.87% respectively.

L'Oreal added to gains, with shares surging 3.98% as the world’s largest cosmetics maker reported a 12% gain in 2012 earnings and said it will buy back EUR500 million of shares in the first half of the year.

Elsewhere, French tiremaker Michelin plunged 3.33% after reporting operating profit of EUR2.42 billion, below analysts estimates.

In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.35%, supported by gains in financial stocks, while data showed that consumer price inflation in the U.K. remained unchanged at 2.7% for the fourth consecutive month in January.

HSBC Holdings advanced 0.63% and the Royal Bank of Scotland jumped 2.47%, while Lloyds Banking rallied 3.75% and Barclays soared 4.79%.

Barclays said earlier that is planning to cut 3,700 jobs in order to reduce annual costs by GBP1.7 billion pounds, as CEO Antony Jenkins revamps the lender following its first full-year loss in two decades.


Mining stocks continued to trend lower on the other hand, as BHP Billiton tumbled 1% and Rio Tinto dipped 0.03%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys retreated 0.90% and 0.66% respectively.

In addition, ICAP extended earlier losses, plunging 4.64%, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the interdealer broker, which disclosed last month that it is under scrutiny by Britain's Financial Services Authority, is being probed by U.S. authorities over its role in a global interest rate-rigging scandal.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.02% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.01% dip, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.08% loss.

Later in the day, Mario Draghi was to speak in the Spanish Parliament in Madrid, while the European Economic and Financial Affairs Council was to hold talks in Brussels. Meanwhile, the U.S. was to release data on the federal budget balance.