Investing.com - European stocks opened higher on Wednesday, but gains were expected to remain limited by ongoing global growth concerns and ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.72%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.63%, while Germany’s DAX 30 climbed 0.66%.
Markets were jittery after data on Tuesday showed that China’s exports tumbled 25.4% from a year earlier to $126.1 billion in February. Economists had expected a decline of 12.5%.
Imports fell 13.8% year-on-year, slowing from January’s 18.8% tumble.
The weak report added to concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) gained 0.59% and 1.36%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) advanced 0.27% and 0.40%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) rallied 0.86% and 1.12% respectively, while Spanish bank Banco Santander (MC:SAN) added 0.10%.
Elsewhere, Inditex (MC:ITX) SA climbed 0.71% after the world’s largest clothing retailer reported its fastest annual profit growth in three years.
Altice NV (AS:ATCA) jumped 1.32% as the Dutch telecoms company, currently seeking approval from New York state regulators to buy Cablevision Systems Corp (NYSE:CVC)., said it will improve infrastructure and network speeds.
In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.22%, helped by SSE (LON:SSE), whose shares rallied 1.53% after JP Morgan upgraded the stock to overweight.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were mostly lower on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Anglo American (LON:AAL) and Bhp Billiton (LON:BLT) dropped 0.83% and 0.84% respectively, while Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) tumbled 1.11%. Glencore (LON:GLEN) overperformed, with shares surging 2.04%.
In the financial sector, stocks were mixed. Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) edged down 0.10% and Barclays (LON:BARC) fell 0.28%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) gained 0.78% and HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) advanced 1.45%.
G4S (CO:G4S) was one of the worst performers on the index, as shares dove 10.34% after the world’s biggest security company warned that it could lose an additional £57 million if the UK government decides to extend a controversial contract to house asylum seekers in Britain.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.40% gain, S&P 500 futures a 0.37% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.43% increase.