Investing.com - European stocks were steady to lower on Thursday, as markets paused after a strong session on Wednesday and as political concerns took center stage once again.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 inched 0.03% lower, France’s CAC 40 eased up 0.07%, while Germany’s DAX 30 dipped 0.06%.
Markets were jittery after French authorities decided to formally investigate conservative candidate Francois Fillon for misusing public funds.
His centrist opponent Emmanuel Macron was set to outline his manifesto on Thursday morning.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) gained 0.43% and 0.39%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) rallied 1.07% and 1.43%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spain’s BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) added 0.06% and 0.36% respectively. Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) underperformed however, as shares slid 0.37% and 0.30%.
Elsewhere, Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (BR:ABI) declined 0.79% as the world's largest brewer raised its forecast for savings and benefits from its SABMiller (LON:SAB) takeover to $2.8 billion from $2.45 billion after reporting weaker than expected earnings.
Adecco (SIX:ADEN) shares tumbled 1.03% even after the Swiss company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday and said it saw strengthened hiring momentum across Europe.
Deutsche Telekom (DE:DTEGn) added to losses, with shares retreating 1.04% after the group wrote down the value of its stake in Britain's BT by €2.2 billion, pushing it to a fourth-quarter net loss of €2.12 billion from a profit of €946 million a year earlier.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 inched up 0.06%, helped by gains in the mining sector.
Shares in BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) added 0.15% and Glencore (LON:GLEN) gained 0.43%, while Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) jumped 0.91%.
Financial stocks were also mostly higher, as Barclays (LON:BARC) rose 0.28% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) climbed 0.94%, while HSBC Holding rallied 0.98%. Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) held steady, with shares dipping just 0.03%.
On the downside, Travis Perkins (LON:TPK) plunged 6.58% after the supplier of building materials reported a 67% drop in pretax profit.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady to lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.04% uptick, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.07% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.04% dip.