European stocks push lower in cautious trade; Dax down 0.17%

Investing.com - European stocks pushed lower on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious amid ongoing speculation over when the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its asset purchase program.

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.29%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.23%, while Germany’s DAX 30 edged down 0.17%.
Markets were jittery after official data last week showed that the U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, far more than the 125,000 forecast by economists.

The upbeat data spurred heightened speculation that the Fed may start winding down its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program as soon as its next monthly meeting in December.

Financial stocks turned broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale slipped 0.24% and 0.20%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank tumbled 1.24%.

Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA declined 0.61% and 0.94% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo shed 0.14% and 0.75%.

Unicredit earlier said that net income fell 39% to EUR204 million in the third quarter from a year earlier, exceeding analysts' estimates.

Elsewhere, Henkel gained 0.81% after the German maker of Loctite glue and Fa deodorant reported third-quarter operating profit of EUR672 million, above the EUR663 million average estimate.

In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 slipped 0.17%, weighed by sharp losses in energy and mining stocks, while data showed that the annual rate of inflation in the U.K. slowed to the lowest level in more than a year in October.

Precious metals mining company Fresnillo remained one of the worst performers on the index, down 3.57%, and was closely followed by oil and gas giant Tullow Oil, whose shares tumbled 2.97%, while rival Anglo American lost 1.87%.

Meanwhile, RSA Insurance recovered from Monday's over 9% drop and surged 5.31%. Late Sunday, the company said it appointed PwC to undertake a review of the issues identified last week in its Irish claims and finance functions.

In the financial sector, stocks remained broadly lower as Lloyds Banking dropped 0.71% and HSBC Holdings declined 0.60%, while Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland plummeted 1.12% and 1.37% respectively.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.11% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.20% fall, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.23% decline.