Investing.com – European stocks were mixed on Thursday, as investors wait to find out if the European Central Bank will taper its asset purchasing program.
The pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 was flat as of 5:36 AM ET (10:36 AM GMT).
Investors will focus on ECB President Mario Draghi’s press conference 45 minutes after the policy decision, for details of how or when the central bank will start unwinding its quantitative easing program. The bank is expected to trim its monthly purchasing program in January to €40 billion ($47 billion) from the current €60 billion ($70.6 billion).
In Spain, the IBEX 35 fell 16 points or 0.16% as the country remains on edge over Catalonia independence. The central government is expected to impose direct rule over the region, while Catalonia leaders are expected to respond to Madrid on Thursday. Among the top gainers were bank Santander (MC:SAN), which rose 0.73% and insurance firm Mapfre (MC:MAP), which jumped 2.33% after it declared an interim dividend of €0.06.
Meanwhile other bank stocks in Spain were doing poorly, with Caixabank SA (MC:CABK) down 1.03% and Bankia SA (MC:BKIA) falling 0.42%. Supermarket chain Distribuidora Intl de Aliment (MC:DIDA) slumped 4.61%.
In London, the FTSE 100 was up 23 points or 0.31% with the British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) company rallying 2.66% and consumer goods maker Unilever (LON:ULVR) rising 2.12% after it said its offer to buy back its Dutch preference shares had been declared unconditional.
Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) was among the worst performers, falling 6.24% after a poor quarter from the bank’s investment arm. Financial services firm Provident Financial (LON:PFG) was also down 2.27%, while wealth management firm Old Mutual PLC (LON:OML) decreased 1.37%.
In Germany the DAX rose 26 points or 0.20%. Cosmetic manufacturer Beiersdorf AG (DE:BEIG) jumped 5.39% while sportswear firm Adidas (DE:ADSGN) was up 1.34% and Siemens AG Class N (DE:SIEGn) rose 1.04%. Airline company Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DE:LHAG) was among the biggest losers, falling 0.66% while bank stocks also took a hit. Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) was down 1.52% and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) decreased 2.06%.
France’s CAC 40 increased 11 points or 0.21% as cosmetic firm L’Oreal SA (PA:OREP) up 1.86% and semiconductor firm STMicroelectronics (PA:STM) increasing 5.53% after reporting its third quarter earnings results. Meanwhile luxury brand Kering (PA:PRTP) slumped 1.44% while LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (PA:LVMH) was down 0.61%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.04% to $1,279.47 a troy ounce and crude oil futures slumped 0.02% to $52.17 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, rose to 93.61.