Investing.com -
Investing.com - European stocks turned mostly higher in subdued trade on Tuesday, after the release of strong U.K. manufacturing production data and as last week's policy statement by the European Central Bank continued to support.
During European afternoon trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.21%, France's CAC 40 edged up 0.12%, while Germany's DAX added 0.17%, hitting an all-time high.
On Monday, a sharp rise in euro zone bonds highlighted the diverging monetary policy stance between the ECB and the Federal Reserve. Borrowing costs in the peripheral euro zone fell to fresh record lows, widening the yields between some euro area government bonds and U.S. Treasuries.
The ECB on Thursday cut the main refinancing rate in the euro area to a record low 0.15% and imposed negative deposit rates on commercial lenders, in a bid to stimulate lending to businesses. ECB President Mario Draghi also kept the option of quantitative easing on the table.
Financial stocks remained broadly lower, as French lender Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) slid 0.33%, while Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) fell 0.24% and 0.77%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) retreated 0.19% and 0.49% respectively. Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) overperformed however, gaining 0.80% and 0.92%.
Elsewhere, Orange (PARIS:ORAN) saw shares tumble 1.99% following reports the French telecom group ended talks with Vivendi's Canal+ over the pay-television operator taking a stake in online video-sharing website Dailymotion.
In London, commdity-heavy FTSE 100 dropped 0.40%, still weighed by losses in the mining sector, even as data showed that manufacturing production in the U.K. rose for a third straight month in April, pushing the annual rate to a three year high.
Shares in Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) fell 0.21% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) declined 0.87%, while rivals Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) and Vedanta Resources (LONDON:VED) lost 0.97% 1.93% respectively.
Financial stocks also remained broadly lower, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) dipped 0.01% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) slid 0.60%, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) retreated 0.73% and 0.76%.
On the upside, Imperial Tobacco (LONDON:IMT) advanced 0.42% after saying it plans to sell shares of its Logista unit on the Spanish stock exchange in an initial public offering that may value the logistics company at $2.5 billion.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow 30futures pointed to a 0.13% loss, S&P 500futures signaled a 0.19% decline, while the Nasdaq 100futures indicated a 0.18% fall.
Also Tuesday, official data showed that French industrial production rose 0.3% in April, less than the expected 0.4% increase, after a 0.4% fall in March.
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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.