European stocks mixed ahead of Spanish auction; DAX up 0.15%
Investing.com
Published Jan 12, 2012 04:14AM ET
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.51%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.33%, while Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.15%.
Spain was due to sell up to EUR5 billion euros of government bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016, one day before Italy’s Treasury planned to auction EUR4.75 billion of five-year bonds.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds was at 5.36%, while the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds remained just above the 7% threshold seen as unsustainable, at 7.04%.
Meanwhile, the ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% and to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, led by Italy’s Unicredit with shares surging 4.77% and Intesa Sanpaolo jumping 3.19%.
Shares in German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank advanced 1.79% and 5.16%, while France’s BNP Paribas and Societe Generale surged 3.18% and 1.83% respectively.
On the downside, Delhaize Group plunged 8.68% after saying it plans to cut about 5,000 positions and expects a 2.4% drop in revenue as it closes stores in the U.S. and Europe.
In London, FTSE 100 declined 0.16%, ahead of the Bank of England’s rate decision.
Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland soared 6.98% and Lloyds Banking climbed 3.87%, while Barclays and HSBC Holdings advanced 3.40% and 0.12%.
Meanwhile, mining giants Bhp Billiton and Rio Tinto jumped 1.29% and 0.72%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys rose 0.67% and 2.73% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.10%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.16% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.01% loss.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and initial jobless claims.
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Written By: Investing.com
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