Investing.com - European stocks closed mixed Thursday as comments by central bank head Mario Draghi renewed growth worries in the wake of Spanish bailout concerns weighing on equities.
At the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.27%, France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.14%, while Germany’s DAX 30 fell 0.23%.
The ECB left rates on hold at a record low 0.75%, in a widely anticipated decision.
Knocking shares down, Draghi stated the ECB was ready to buy the debt of distressed euro zone states when the prerequisites are in place and reiterated that the central bank was acting strictly within its mandate in undertaking a bond buying program via Outright Monetary Transactions.
Draghi said the announcement of OMT’s had helped alleviate market tensions in recent weeks.
Draghi added that the economic risks in the euro zone remain to the downside and added that economic indicators point to weak growth in the third quarter.
Sentiment on the euro has been bolstered by hopes that Spain will soon request a bailout and trigger the ECB’s bond purchasing program, a move which investors hope would ease the debt crisis in the region.
Financial stocks pushed sharply higher, as French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas jumped 1.82% and 0.87%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank advanced 0.68% and 0.35%.
Separately, Societe Generale and Greek lender Piraeus Bank confirmed that they are in exclusive talks for a potential sale of the French lender's Greek unit Geniki Bank.
Peripheral lenders were also mostly higher, led by Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, up 1.78% and 1.29%, while Spain saw shares in Banco Santander climb 0.51% and BBVA dropped 0.66%.
On the downside, Swiss company Nobel Biocare plummeted 7.66% as the world’s second-biggest maker of dental implants said full-year profit will be affected by a deteriorating Japanese market.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 fought the bearish trend by easing higher 0.03%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts higher, while the Bank of England announced no changes to current monetary policy at the conclusion of its policy setting meeting.
Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland rallied 1.72% and Barclays advanced 0.72%, while HSBC Holdings rose 0.48%. Lloyds Banking underperformed on the other hand, as shares tumbled 098%.
Meanwhile, mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton erased earlier gains, with shares dropping 0.38% and 1.12%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys remained in the upside, adding 0.33% and 0.35% respectively.
Halfords added to gains, with shares skyrocketing 14.47%, posting its largest jump since November 2008, after the company said it expects 2013 profit before tax in the upper half of its previously forecast range of GBP62 million pounds to GBP70 million pounds.
The retailer also reported second-half same-store sales growth that beat analyst estimates.
In the U.S., equity markets traded higher with the Dow up 0.62%, the S&P 500 higher by 0.49% and the tech heavy Nasdaq ahead by 0.23%.
In other news, Thursday, Spain saw borrowing costs fall at an auction of government debt, with the yield on five-year bonds dropping to 4.76% from 6.45% last month.
Investors are anticipating the nonfarm payrolls and the Bank of Japan press conference on Friday.