European stocks mixed amid debt worries; DAX up 0.04%

Investing.com - European stock markets were mixed on Tuesday, modestly trimming earlier losses as dim prospects in the euro zone continued to weigh on market sentiment. 

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.82%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 1.33%, while Germany’s DAX 30 eased up 0.04%.

Investor confidence weakened after the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment fell to its lowest level since November 2008, falling to minus 48.3 October from a reading of minus 43.3 in September. 

The report came a day after Germany's finance minister said that the next European summit scheduled on October 23 would not result in a definitive solution to the financial crisis in the single currency bloc.

Elsewhere, Moody's Investors Service warned France of a negative credit outlook and a potential downgrade.

French lenders continued to lead losses, with shares in BNP Paribas sinking 4.49%, Societe Generale plummeting 3.47% and Credit Agricole dropping 2.77%. Germany's Deutsche Bank saw shares fall 0.32%.

Troubled lender Dexia trimmed losses, with shares still down 0.35% after the company said it expects the sale of Dexia Bank Belgium to the Belgian state at a board meeting planned on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, shares in Air France-KLM dropped 3.64% after the company announced late Monday that its Chief Executive Officer Pierre-Henri Gourgeon had resigned. The company said it wanted to "improve the group’s operating and financial performance in a context of economic uncertainties affecting the European air traffic."

On the upside, shares in tire maker Michelin rose 2.37% after JP Morgan Cazenive upgraded shares to "overweight" from "neutral". Dairy group Danone also saw shares rise 1.41% after reporting third-quarter comparable sales growth of 5.9%.

In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 declined 1.18%, tracking losses in European energy stocks and commodity prices. 

Mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton plummeted 4.10% and 1.36% respectively. Meanwhile, British Petroleum remained among Tuesday's top gainers with shares rising 1.60%.

U.K. lenders shadowed their European counterparts, as shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled 2.24% and Lloyds Banking tumbled 1.36%, while HSBC Holdings and Barclays declined 1.55% and 1.25% respectively.

Elsewhere, U.S. equity markets opened lower, shrugging off better-than-expected producer price inflation data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.42%, the S&P 500 index eased down 0.31%, while the Nasdaq Composite index declined 0.61%.

Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was due to speak at the central bank's 56th Economic Conference, in Boston.