European stocks mixed after data; DAX up 0.14%

Investing.com - European stock markets were mixed on Tuesday, as sentiment found support after data showed the euro zone avoided a recession in the first quarter but worries over Greece’s political deadlock remained. 

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.25%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.44%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.14%.

Official data showed that the euro zone avoided a recession in the first quarter, as gross domestic product growth remained flat, defying expectations for a contraction of 0.2%. The euro zone economy contracted by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Sentiment also found support after preliminary data showed that Germany’s economy expanded more-than-expected in the first quarter, indicating that the euro zone’s largest economy is weathering the effects of the crisis in the region.

But investors remained cautious amid fears that last ditch talks aimed at forming a government in Greece would fail after a more than week-long political stalemate fuelled fears over the country’s ability to uphold its financial commitments and its possible exit from the euro zone.

Financial stocks remained broadly higher, led by Italian lenders Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit, up 1.65% and 0.60%, although Moody’s Investors Service earlier announced widespread downgrades on Italy’s banking sector amid concerns over limited access to market funding.

France’s BNP Paribas also rose 0.22% and 0.33%, while German Deutsche Bank added 0.23%.

French mass media group Vivendi was one of the session’s top gainers, with shares surging 4.02%, although it posted lower revenue and operating profit in the first quarter, hit by weak video game sales and bruising competition for its SFR French telecom unit after the launch of a new low-cost mobile player.

In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 fell 0.08%, after data showed that the U.K.’s trade deficit remained unexpectedly unchanged in March.

Shares in mining giant Anglo American advanced 0.70%, after announcing the appointment to its Board of Anne Stevens as a non-executive director, with immediate effect, while BP saw shares rise 0.37%:

Rio Tinto turned lower however, declining 0.76%, while Bhp Billiton added 0.13%.  Copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys also erased earlier gains, falling 0.27% and 1.29% respectively.

Elsewhere, U.K. lenders turned broadly lower. Shares in Barclays tumbled 1.92% and Lloyds Banking retreated 0.54%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland fell 0.37%.

Earlier in the day, Barclays said that it was putting its French retail banking network up for sale, following an estimated loss of EUR200 million.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to rise of 0.39%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.46% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.63% gain.

Later in the day, European Union finance ministers were scheduled to hold talks.

The U.S. was to publish official data on retail sales and consumer price inflation, as well as a report on manufacturing activity in New York.