Investing.com - European stocks slipped lower on Monday, as comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi continued to weigh
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 edged down 0.18%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.35%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.11%.
European equities remained under pressure after ECB President Mario Draghi indicated last week that the bank would not embark on quantitative easing for now, saying the bank would reassess its stimulus program in the first quarter of 2015.
Draghi said the bank could potentially change the size, scale and composition of its existing stimulus programs. The governing council remains unanimous that it will take further measures, if necessary, he added.
Financial stocks were mostly lower after Moody's Investors Service said that European banks will be weakened further by poor economic conditions and high litigation costs in 2015.
French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) lost 0.08% and 0.97%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) slipped 0.15%. Earlier Monday, German investigators reportedly exonerated Deutsche Bank co-Chief Executive Officer Anshu Jain of involvement in manipulating interest rates after a two-year probe.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit edged down 0.12% and 0.17% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA shed 0.30% and 0.38%.
Elsewhere, Sika (SIX:SIK) saw shares plunge 13.79% after Saint Gobain made a hostile 2.75 billion Swiss francs bid for a controlling stake in the Swiss maker of construction chemicals, which said the deal lacks industrial logic.
Saint Gobain's shares were down 3.14% in European morning trade.
In London, FTSE 100 slid 0.44%, led by EasyJet Plc (LONDON:EZJ), down 1.87% following reports on Friday that the airliner's Chief Executive Officer Carolyn McCall was paid £7.7 million last year, with more than £7 million coming in bonuses.
Financial stocks were also broadly lower, as Barclays edged down 0.14% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) slipped 0.22%, while Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) dropped 0.49% and 0.73% respectively.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were mixed with shares in Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) down 0.78% and Bhp Billiton tumbling 1.22%, while Randgold Resources led gains on the index, up 1.74%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.16% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.17% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.21% decline.