Investing.com - European stocks were steady on Friday, as investors remained cautious ahead of highly anticipated speeches by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Jackson Hole later in the day.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.10%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.08%, while Germany’s DAX eased up 0.06%.
Market participants were eyeing upcoming remarks by Ms. Yellen and Mr. Draghi for further indications on the central banks' next policy moves.
On Wednesday, the minutes of the Fed’s July meeting showed that some officials believe the strengthening recovery and ongoing improvement in the labor market supports a move towards tightening monetary policy.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) rose 0.35% and 0.93%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) gained 0.35%.
Among peripheral lenders however, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) added 0.36% and 0.43% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) edged up 0.23% and 0.33%.
Marine Harvest (OSLO:MHG) added to gains, up 0.60%, after Norway's biggest salmon producer said it will allow fish farmers to hold more stock and delay harvesting to limit the impact of a Russian import ban shutting out nearly 10% of the country's salmon output.
In London, FTSE 100 inched up 0.05%, boosted by gains in the financial sector.
Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) climbed 0.64% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) advanced 0.78%, while HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) jumped 1.07% and 1.10% respectively.
Lonmin (LONDON:LMI) was also on the upside, with shares surging 4.42% after Goldman Sachs raised the platinum producer to "conviction buy" from neutral.
Other mining stocks were mixed, as Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) fell 0.13% and Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) slid 0.32%, while rivals Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) and Vedanta Resources (LONDON:VED) added 0.13% and 0.29%.
Elsewhere, RSA Insurance Group (LONDON:RSA) edged up only 0.07% after agreeing to sell its insurance businesses in Singapore and Hong Kong to Allied World (NYSE:AWH) for about £130 million.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.14% increase, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.10% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.11% gain.