European stocks mostly lower with eyes on Fed minutes; DAX down 0.27%

Stock market

European stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday, as investors eyed the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting for hints on the timing of the next rate hike.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.52%, France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.13%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.27%.

Investors became more cautious after New York Federal Reserve head William Dudley saidon Tuesday that the U.S. is edging closer toward the point in time where it will be appropriate to raise interest rates further.

In addition, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said that two rate hikes in 2016 were a possibility.

Financial stocks were mostly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) andSociete Generale (PA:SOGN) were up 0.06% and 0.93%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) rose 0.36% and 0.32%.

Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Unicredit (MI:CRDI) added 0.28%, while Spanish banksBanco Santander (MC:SAN) and BBVA (MC:BBVA) gained 0.26% and 0.46% respectively.

On the downisde, Merck (NYSE:MRK) saw shares decline 0.82% after the drugmaker said won't promote Zontivity, a clot-busting medication, anymore in the U.S. and announced plans to cut 148 sales-and-marketing jobs.

In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.25%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts higher.

Shares in HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) gained 0.43% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) advanced 0.78%, while Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) climbed 0.84% andBarclays (LON:BARC) rallied 1.17%.

Meanwhile, mining stocks were broadly lower on the commodity-heavy index. Rio Tinto(LON:RIO) slid 0.32% and Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) dropped 0.47%, while rival company Glencore (LON:GLEN) retreated 0.66%.

Admiral Group (LON:ADML) was one of the worst performers on the index, with shares plunging 6.52% after saying that market volatility after the Brexit vote impacted the group's solvency position negatively.

However the motor insurance company reported pretax profit growth of 4.3% for the first half and raised its dividend by 23%.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. TheDow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.05% gain, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.06% uptick, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.06% rise.

Source by Investing.com