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Investing.com - European stocks were higher on Thursday, after German inflation data came out in line with market expectations, although investors remained cautious amid renewed concerns over tensions in Ukraine.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 advanced 0.88%, France's CAC 40 climbed 0.74%, while Germany's DAX jumped 1%.
Official data showed that German consumer price inflation slipped 0.3% in October, in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous month.
A separate report showed that the French current account deficit narrowed to €1.20 billion in September from a revised deficit of €3.70 billion in August.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious as Ukraine was preparing to redeploy troops in the east of the country with fears that pro-Russian separatists will launch a new offensive.
Financial stocks recovered from losses posted on Wednesday after regulators in the U.S., the U.K. and Switzerland ordered five banks to pay about $3.3 billion to settle a probe into the rigging of foreign-exchange rates.
French lendersBNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) andSociete Generale (PARIS:SOGN) added 0.22% and 0.53%, while Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) edged up 0.18%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy'sIntesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) gained 0.60% and 1.22% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) andBanco Santander (MADRID:SAN) advanced 0.61% and 0.94%.
Elsewhere, RWE (XETRA:RWEG) plummeted 2.10% after the German utilities company said profit dropped 60% in the first nine months of the year.
In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.23%, supported byVodafone Group (LONDON:VOD), up 1.11% after the telecom giant announced on Tuesday plans to launch UK broadband and TV services in the spring.
In the financial sector, stocks were also mostly higher. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) rose 0.32% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) gained 0.45%, whileHSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) climbed 0.52%.
Barclays (LONDON:BARC) underperformed however, down 0.49% as the U.K. lender was being pressed by New York's bank regulator to find an agreement in the aforementionned currency-rigging investigation. Barclays refused to join the group settlement announced on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were broadly lower.Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) slipped 0.27% andBhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) lost 0.30%, while rivalsRandgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) andGlencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) retreated 0.41% and 0.45% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.24% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled an 0.24% gain, while the NASDAQ 100 futures indicated a 0.30% increase.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish the weekly report on initial jobless claims.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
