Forexpros – European stock markets were mixed on Wednesday, amid sustained worries over Greece’s debt crisis and fears that the euro zone may be entering recession territory.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 added 0.08%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.31%, while Germany’s DAX 30 dipped 0.02%.
Concerns over a potential Greek default persisted ahead of the March 8 deadline for the country’s private creditors to sign on to a EUR106 billion debt swap deal, a requirement for Athens to tap a recently approved EUR130 billion bailout fund.
Market sentiment was also dented by fears that the euro zone is slipping into a recession after data on Tuesday confirmed that the region’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the last three months of 2011, as household spending, exports and imports all fell.
Financial stocks were mixed as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale declined 0.20% and 0.69%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank edged up 0.06%.
Societe Generale, France’s second-biggest bank, Assicurazioni Generali and UniCredit joined bondholders earlier saying they would participate in Greece’s debt swap.
Meanwhile, Adidas saw shares drop 2.75% after the world’s second-largest sporting-goods maker said it has set a target of EUR736 million to EUR770 million for 2012 net income, missing analysts’ estimates.
In London, FTSE 100 eased up 0.06%, despite losses in the financial sector.
Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled 1.99% and Barclays plummeted 1.81%, while Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings retreated 1.74% and 0.19% respectively.
HSBC agreed earlier to sell some of its general insurance units in Asia and Latin America for about USD914 million.
On the upside, mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton saw shares add 0.52% and 0.53%, while copper producer Xstrata slid 0.67%.
Elsewhere, electrical power generation company, Drax Group Plc surged 2.81% after the stock was raised to “buy” from “neutral” at UBS AG.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.28%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.35% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.29% gain.
Later in the day, Germany was to release official data on factory orders, while the U.S. was to publish a report on ADP non-farm payrolls, which leads government data by two days.
The U.S. was also to release revised data on non-farm productivity and labor costs, as well as a report on crude oil stockpiles.
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