European stocks mixed after Moody’s downgrades; DAX up 0.14%

Investing.com - European stock markets were mixed on Tuesday, as investors were cautious after Moody’s ratings agency downgraded six European countries and placed several others under review.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 eased 0.04%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.21%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.14%.

Moody’s Investors Service cut the debt ratings of six European countries including Italy, Spain and Portugal earlier and said it may strip France and the U.K. of their top Aaa ratings, citing the euro zone’s debt crisis.

The news overshadowed the vote of a new austerity plan by the Greek parliament, designed to secure the country’s much needed EUR130 billion bailout package.

Financial stocks were mixed as shares in German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank jumped 2.22% and 1.15%, while France’s BNP Paribas and Societe Generale declined 0.76% and 1.11% respectively.

Meanwhile, ThyssenKrupp, Germany’s biggest steel maker sank 2.85% after posting a first-quarter loss following project delays.

TDC A/S, Denmark’s biggest phone company, also slipped 4.89 after private-equity investors offered shares at a discount.

On the upside, L’Oreal gained 1.75% after the world’s largest cosmetics maker said it’s confident of achieving sales and earnings growth this year after reporting a 7.7% increase in 2011 operating profit, beating analysts’ estimates.

In London, FTSE 100 dropped 0.22%, weighed by losses in mining stocks while industry data showed that the U.K.’s house price balance fell 16% in January, in line with expectations.

Mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton saw shares plunge 2.48% and 1.38%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys plummeted 1.73% and 1.14% respectively.

Elsewhere, financial stocks were mixed. Shares in HSBC Holdings advanced 0.50%, while Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland retreated 0.68% and 1.53%.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.16%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.17% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.07% loss.

Later in the day, France was to publish preliminary data on non-farm payrolls and the ZEW Centre for Economic Research was to release reports on economic sentiment in Germany and the wider euro zone.

In the U.S., official data was to be produced on retail sales, as well as reports on import prices and business inventories.