Investing.com - European stocks remained higher on Wednesday, as investors turned to a highly anticipated European Union summit amid uncertainty over whether talks will lead to new decisive measures to tackle the region’s financial crisis.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.28%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.38%, while Germany’s DAX 30 gained 0.25%.
Hopes that European leaders would make progress on dealing with the debt crisis in the euro area faded after German Chancellor Angel Merkel reiterated her opposition to the idea of joint euro zone bonds on Tuesday.
Investors were looking ahead to the outcome of talks between Chancellor Merkel and French President François Hollande later in the day, ahead of the EU summit meeting this week.
Earlier Wednesday, Italy saw borrowing costs climb to the highest level since December at an auction of six-month government bonds, as investor sentiment towards Italy continued to deteriorate.
Italy’s Treasury sold the full targeted amount of EUR9 billion of six-month government bonds at an average yield of 2.95%, up from 2.10% at a similar auction last month.
Financial stocks remained higher, led by Italian lender Unicredit, up 2.50%, and closely followed by France’s Societe Generale and BNP Paribas, with shares surging 2% and 1.82%.
Germany’s two biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, also rallied 1.64% and 0.82% respectively, while Spanish banks erased earlier losses, as BBVA and Banco Santander rose 0.20% and 0.34%.
Swiss healthcare company Roche added to gains, climbing 1.92%, after saying late Tuesday that it intends to close its 80-year old Nutley, New Jersey laboratory, where the sedative Valium was developed, cutting about 1,000 U.S. jobs.
On the downside, auto makers turned lower, as Daimler plummeted 1.11%, Volkswagen plunged 1.52% and BMW fell 0.17%, following a report by AlixPartners saying that auto sales in Western Europe may decline 6.9% to 13.5 million in 2012.
In London, FTSE 100 added 0.31%, as the financial sector remained broadly higher and after data showed that an index for realized sales in the U.K. rose significantly in June.
Shares in Lloyds Banking rallied 2.23% and HSBC Holdings surged 1.30%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays jumped 1.12% and 1.18% respectively.
Oil and gas companies BP and Anglo America turned lower on the other hand, with shares dropping 0.31% and 0.89%, while mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton declined 1.01% and 0.92% respectively.
Meanwhile, copper producer Xstrata extended losses, down 1.79%, and Glencore tumbled 2.76%, as the merger deal between both companies was reportedly on the brink of collapse after Qatar, which has a stake of over 10% in Xstrata, said that it wanted a higher price.
Elsewhere, shares in BSkyb surged 3%, as the fate of the pay TV giant came into the spotlight on reports of News Corp’s split into two entities, an entertainment company and a publishing firm.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.01% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.09% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.02% gain.
Later Wednesday, Germany was to produce preliminary data on consumer price inflation. The U.S. was to publish official data on durable goods orders, as well as industry data on pending home sales.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.28%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.38%, while Germany’s DAX 30 gained 0.25%.
Hopes that European leaders would make progress on dealing with the debt crisis in the euro area faded after German Chancellor Angel Merkel reiterated her opposition to the idea of joint euro zone bonds on Tuesday.
Investors were looking ahead to the outcome of talks between Chancellor Merkel and French President François Hollande later in the day, ahead of the EU summit meeting this week.
Earlier Wednesday, Italy saw borrowing costs climb to the highest level since December at an auction of six-month government bonds, as investor sentiment towards Italy continued to deteriorate.
Italy’s Treasury sold the full targeted amount of EUR9 billion of six-month government bonds at an average yield of 2.95%, up from 2.10% at a similar auction last month.
Financial stocks remained higher, led by Italian lender Unicredit, up 2.50%, and closely followed by France’s Societe Generale and BNP Paribas, with shares surging 2% and 1.82%.
Germany’s two biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, also rallied 1.64% and 0.82% respectively, while Spanish banks erased earlier losses, as BBVA and Banco Santander rose 0.20% and 0.34%.
Swiss healthcare company Roche added to gains, climbing 1.92%, after saying late Tuesday that it intends to close its 80-year old Nutley, New Jersey laboratory, where the sedative Valium was developed, cutting about 1,000 U.S. jobs.
On the downside, auto makers turned lower, as Daimler plummeted 1.11%, Volkswagen plunged 1.52% and BMW fell 0.17%, following a report by AlixPartners saying that auto sales in Western Europe may decline 6.9% to 13.5 million in 2012.
In London, FTSE 100 added 0.31%, as the financial sector remained broadly higher and after data showed that an index for realized sales in the U.K. rose significantly in June.
Shares in Lloyds Banking rallied 2.23% and HSBC Holdings surged 1.30%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays jumped 1.12% and 1.18% respectively.
Oil and gas companies BP and Anglo America turned lower on the other hand, with shares dropping 0.31% and 0.89%, while mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton declined 1.01% and 0.92% respectively.
Meanwhile, copper producer Xstrata extended losses, down 1.79%, and Glencore tumbled 2.76%, as the merger deal between both companies was reportedly on the brink of collapse after Qatar, which has a stake of over 10% in Xstrata, said that it wanted a higher price.
Elsewhere, shares in BSkyb surged 3%, as the fate of the pay TV giant came into the spotlight on reports of News Corp’s split into two entities, an entertainment company and a publishing firm.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.01% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.09% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.02% gain.
Later Wednesday, Germany was to produce preliminary data on consumer price inflation. The U.S. was to publish official data on durable goods orders, as well as industry data on pending home sales.