Forexpros – European stock markets were mixed to higher on Wednesday, as sentiment strengthened ahead of a highly anticipated long term refinancing operation by the European Central Bank.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.49%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.32%, while Germany’s DAX 30 advanced 0.61%.
In December, the ECB issued EUR489 billion in three-year loans to more than 500 banks, averting a liquidity shortage in the euro zone’s banking system and easing pressure on the region’s bond markets.
Financial stocks led gains as French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas jumped 2.10% and 1.82%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank climbed 1.48% and 1.61% respectively.
Peripheral lenders were also broadly higher. Shares in Italy’s Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo surged 2.08% and 1.76% respectively, while Spanish lenders BBVA and Banco Santander rose 1.63% and 1.61%.
Meanwhile, Holcim, the world’s second-biggest cement maker, added 0.23% as sales and earnings topped forecasts.
On the downside, Bouygues tumbled 2.62% after the French building, television and telecommunications company, reported a 2011 profit that beat analyst forecasts and said revenue this year will fall by 1%, led by its mobile-phone business.
In London, FTSE 100 fell 0.14%, after data showed that consumer confidence in the U.K. fell more-than-expected in February.
U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts higher as shares in HSBC Holdings jumped 1.15% and Lloyds Banking added 0.95%, while Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland advanced 0.90% and 0.28%.
Standard Chartered also climbed 1.08% after saying profit last year rose 12%, marking its eighth annual record earnings, on growth in corporate and consumer banking.
Elsewhere, mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton retreated 0.68% and 0.61%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys rose 0.39% and 0.26%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.06%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.07% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.09% gain.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a preliminary report on fourth-quarter gross domestic product, followed by data on manufacturing activity in the Chicago area.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was also due to testify on the semi-annual monetary policy report before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington.
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