Investing.com - European stocks held steady on Friday, as markets paused after Thursday's broad rally following the European Central Bank's decision to slash interest rates and launch an asset-backed securities and covered bond purchasing program.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 dipped 0.02%, France’s CAC 40 inched 0.04% lower, while Germany’s DAX eased up 0.07%.
European equities strengthened broadly on Thursday, after the ECB cut its benchmark interest rate to a record-low 0.05% from 0.15% on Thursday, surprising most market analysts who had expected no change.
In addition, ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank will begin an asset-backed securities program, to purchase non-financial assets, including covered bonds.
The ECB also cut its forecast for growth this year to 0.9% down from 1.0% previously.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) gained 0.68% and 1.10%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) advanced 0.68%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) rose 0.12% and 0.45% respectively. Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) underperformed however, slipping 0.21% and 0.41%.
On the downside, Bilfinger (XETRA:GBFG) tumbled 1.48% after the German construction and engineering company announced a profit warning on Thursday.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 inched 0.07% lower, weighed by sharp losses in the mining sector.
Shares in Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) dropped 0.50% and Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) tumbled 1%, while rivals Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) and Randgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) plunged 2.45% and 2.95% respectively.
BP (LONDON:BP) added to losses, down 0.19% after diving nearly 6% on Thursday as a U.S. judge said the company had been "grossly negligent" with regards to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Standard Life (LONDON:SL) saw shares plummet 1.10% a day after announcing a deal to sell its Canadian operations to Manulife.
In the financial sector, stocks were mixed. Barclays (LONDON:BARC) dipped 0.02% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) declined 0.55%, while Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) added 0.17% and 0.33%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.07% dip, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.08% loss, while the NASDAQ 100 futures indicated a 0.03% downtick.
Also Friday, official data showed that German industrial production rose 1.9% in July, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.3%, after a revised 0.4% increase in June.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the closely watched government report on nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate.