Investing.com - European stocks edged higher on Wednesday, after the release of mixed manufacturing and service sector activity data from Germany and France, while a downbeat Chinese manufacturing report weighed on sentiment.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.23%, France’s CAC 40 eased up 0.07%, while Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.16%.
In the euro zone, research group Markit said that Germany's manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 52.5 in September from 53.3 the previous month, while the services PMI ticked down to 54.3 from 54.9.
France's manufacturing PMI ticked up to 50.4 this month from 48.3 in August, while the services PMI rose to 51.2 from 50.6.
Market sentiment weakened after data earlier showed that China's Caixin manufacturing PMI fell to 47.0 this month from 47.3 in August, compared to expectations for a rise to 47.5.
The weak data added to concerns over a global economic slowdown.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) dropped 0.75% and 0.94%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) lost 0.69% and 1.28%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) retreated 0.13% and 0.54% respectively, while Spanish bank BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) slipped 0.20%.
Elsewhere, German carmaker Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) was down 8.97% after plunging another 20% on Tuesday after being accused by U.S. authorities of falsifying emission tests.
In London, FTSE 100 advanced 0.39%, led by Smiths Group (LONDON:SMIN), whose shares surged 2.62% after the U.K. engineering company reported a 2% year-over-year decline in revenues but a 1% rise in operating profit for the year ending July 31.
The company also announced that Chief Executive Officer Philip Bowman will step down on September 24.
Financial stocks were also broadly higher. Shares in Barclays (LONDON:BARC) edged up 0.14% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) gained 0.51%, while HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) rallied 1.44%. The Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) underperformed however, with shares slipping 0.12%.
Energy stocks added to gains, as oil and gas major BP (LONDON:BP) saw shares climb 0.75%, while Royal Dutch Shell (LONDON:RDSa) jumped 1.45%
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.38% decline, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.32% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.32% slide.