European stocks mixed to lower in cautious trade; Dax down 0.45%

Investing.com - European stocks were mixed to lower on Wednesday, following comments by the Bank of England, while fresh expectations for a near-term end to the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program continued to weigh.

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 inched up 0.03%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.04%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 0.45%.

Investors remained cautious after Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said late Tuesday that he would not rule out a decision to begin to reduce bond purchases as soon as September.

The comments came after Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher on Monday said that policy makers were "closer to execution mode" in considering the right time to begin reducing purchases.

In the euro zone, official data showed that German industrial production jumped 2.4% in June, easily surpassing expectations for a 0.3% increase.
The report came one day after stronger-than-forecast German factory orders data reinforced expectations that the euro zone economy is starting to recover.

Financial stocks were mixed, as BNP Paribas fell 0.18% and Societe Generale climbed 0.49% in France, while Germany's Deutsche Bank slipped 0.13%.

Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander slumped 0.10% and 0.38% respectively, while Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit rallied 1.14% and 2.68%.

Elsewhere, Rexel plummeted 4.91% after Ray Investment sold a stake worth about EUR546 million in the electrical-equipment distributor.

Among earnings, Swisscom reported second-quarter profit and revenue that topped analysts' estimates, sending shares up 2.30%. The Swiss phone company also said it plans to appoint a new chief executive officer by the end of this year.

In London, FTSE 100 dropped 0.85%, after the BoE pledged to keep bank rates at current record lows until the U.K. unemployment rate falls to a threshold of 7%.

Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto remained lower, retreating 1.59% and 2.06%, while rivals Fresnillo and Randgold Resources lost 0.70% and 7.61% respectively.

Financial stocks also remained mostly lower, as shares in Barclays slumped 0.67% and Lloyds Banking declined 0.46%, while HSBC Holdings plummeted 1.32%. However, the Royal Bank of Scotland overperformed for the second consecutive session, gaining 0.61%.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.39% drop, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.37% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.28% loss.