(Reuters) - European stocks opened largely flat as investors parsed through a deluge of earnings reports from major lenders like Deutsche Bank and Barclays , while waiting to hear from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (STOXX) slipped 0.1% by 0716 GMT, oil & gas (SXEP) and chemical (SX4P) leading the declines, while a 1.2% jump in retailers (SXRP) helped counter the losses.
German lender Deutsche Bank AG (DE:DBKGn) rose 1.3%, while Britain's Barclays Plc (L:BARC) slipped 1.6% as they set aside more funds to protect for potential loan losses as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll, but both showed improvement at the investment bank.
UK retailer Next (L:NXT) jumped 8.9% and French luxury group Kering (PA:PRTP) rose 5.3% after reporting a smaller-than-expected decline in quarterly sales.
Chemicals giant BASF SE (DE:BASFn) was down 4.2% after saying it still could not provide guidance for full-year sales and earnings due to uncertainty over the economic fallout from the pandemic.