Investing.com - European stocks were mixed to higher on Friday, as investors were still digesting news that the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its stimulus program as soon as next month.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 added 0.21%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.11%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.24%.
Data earlier showed that the Gfk German consumer climate index rose to 7.6 in December, the highest level since August 2007, from a reading of 7.4 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged this month.
A separate report showed that German producer price inflation fell 0.1% in November, in line woth expectations, after a 0.2% decline the previous month.
But markets were jittery after the Fed announced Wednesday that it would reduce its USD85 billion-a-month bond buying program by USD10 billion in January. Outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy was continuing to make progress.
The U.S. central bank reiterated that interest rates are likely to remain low even after the unemployment rate drops below 6.5%, the threshold at which the Fed has previously said it would start to consider rate increases.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale declined 0.48% and 0.59%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank rose 0.27%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spanish bank BBVA added 0.10%, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo fell 0.14% and 0.63%.
Elsewhere, Telenet rallied 2.85% after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from "neutral", citing growth prospects.
In London, FTSE 100 inched up 0.04%, although gains were capped by BAE Systems, whose shares plummeted 3.79% after the defense company said on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates stopped talks to buy its Eurofighter Typhoon.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were also mostly lower. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland slipped 0.26% and Barclays edged down 0.17%, while Lloyds Banking dropped 0.46%. HSBC Holdings overperformed on the other hand, up 0.22%.
In the mining sector, stocks were mixed as Glencore Xstrata fell 0.26% and Rio Tinto lost 0.29%, while BHP Billiton gained 0.31% and Randgold Resources edged up 0.24%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.09% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.09% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.08% uptick.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release revised data on third quarter GDP.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 added 0.21%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.11%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.24%.
Data earlier showed that the Gfk German consumer climate index rose to 7.6 in December, the highest level since August 2007, from a reading of 7.4 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged this month.
A separate report showed that German producer price inflation fell 0.1% in November, in line woth expectations, after a 0.2% decline the previous month.
But markets were jittery after the Fed announced Wednesday that it would reduce its USD85 billion-a-month bond buying program by USD10 billion in January. Outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy was continuing to make progress.
The U.S. central bank reiterated that interest rates are likely to remain low even after the unemployment rate drops below 6.5%, the threshold at which the Fed has previously said it would start to consider rate increases.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale declined 0.48% and 0.59%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank rose 0.27%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spanish bank BBVA added 0.10%, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo fell 0.14% and 0.63%.
Elsewhere, Telenet rallied 2.85% after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from "neutral", citing growth prospects.
In London, FTSE 100 inched up 0.04%, although gains were capped by BAE Systems, whose shares plummeted 3.79% after the defense company said on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates stopped talks to buy its Eurofighter Typhoon.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were also mostly lower. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland slipped 0.26% and Barclays edged down 0.17%, while Lloyds Banking dropped 0.46%. HSBC Holdings overperformed on the other hand, up 0.22%.
In the mining sector, stocks were mixed as Glencore Xstrata fell 0.26% and Rio Tinto lost 0.29%, while BHP Billiton gained 0.31% and Randgold Resources edged up 0.24%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.09% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.09% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.08% uptick.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release revised data on third quarter GDP.