European stocks mixed ahead of debt auctions; DAX up 0.10%

Investing.com - European stock markets were mixed to higher, as markets eyed French and Spanish debt auctions later in the day and waited for signs of progress in fresh Greece bailout talks.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.29%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.54%, while Germany’s DAX 30 edged up 0.10%.

France was preparing to raise as much as EUR9.5 billion euros in its first sale of medium and long-term debt after Standard & Poor’s downgraded its triple A rating.

Meanwhile, Spain, whose rating was lowered by two levels to A, was set to offer as much as EUR4.5 billion of bonds later Thursday.

Talks between Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and the country’s creditors resumed on Wednesday, after breaking down last week amid disagreements over how much money investors will lose by swapping their bonds.

Financial stocks were broadly higher, led by Dutch lender ING Group whose shares surged 3.39% and German Deutsche Bank, climbing 3.04%, while France’s Societe Generale and BNP Paribas jumped 2.18% and 2.87%.

Peripheral lenders also added to gains with shares in Italian Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo advancing 0.48% and 1.48%, while Spain’s BBVA and Banco Santander added 0.93% and 0.89% respectively.

In London, FTSE 100 dipped 0.08%, after data showed that consumer confidence in the U.K. declined unexpectedly in December.

U.K. lenders led gains as shares in Barclays soared 2.19% and the Royal Bank of Scotland jumped 1.77%, while Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings advanced 1.22% and 1.11%.

Adding to gains, William Hill rallied 5.77% after the betting-shop owner said its full-year performance is in line with analysts’ estimates.

Meanwhile, energy stocks turned lower with mining giant Anglo American tumbling 1.46%, while British Petroleum and International Power sliding 0.55% and 0.17%.

Elsewhere, AstraZeneca declined 1.09% as its experimental diabetes drug failed to win backing from U.S. regulators.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.09%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.16% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.02% loss.

Later in the day, the European Central Bank was to publish its monthly bulletin.

In the U.S., official data was to be released on building reports and housing starts as well as a report on consumer price inflation. The country was also to release government data on unemployment claims and a separate report on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area.