European stocks mixed to lower amid Fed jitters; Dax down 0.19%

Investing.com - European stocks were mixed to lower on Monday, as uncertainty over the future of the Federal Reserve bond-buying program weighed on market sentiment.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 edged down 0.06%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.22%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.19%.

Markets were jittert as concerns over the impact of the 16-day shutdown on the U.S. economic recovery fuelled expectations that the Fed would delay plans for rolling back its asset purchase program until at least the beginning of next year.

Investors were eyeing U.S. data releases later in the week after the shutdown delayed the release of some key economic reports. The September nonfarm payrolls report, which had been originally scheduled for release on October 4, was due on Tuesday.

Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale slid 0.57% and 0.91%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank tumbled 1.13%.

Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander declined 0.60% and 0.75% respectively, while Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit retreated 0.85% and 1.11%.

Elsewhere, German software company SAP surged 4.93% after saying third-quarter operating profit rose to EUR1.3 billion as revenue from the Hana database product climbed 79%.

Adding to gains, Actelion saw shares soar 7.20% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved the use of Opsumit once daily for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension.

In London, FTSE 100 edged up 0.09%, even as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower.

Shares in HSBC Holdings eased 0.07% and Lloyds Banking lost 0.73%, while Barclays tumbled 1.55% and the Royal Bank of Scotland plunged 3.72%.

On the upside, G4S was one of the top gainers, up 2.87%, following reports British private equity group Charterhouse Capital Partners was considering making a GBP1 billion offer for G4S's cash-solutions business.
 
In the mining sector, Rio Tinto climbed 0.57% and BHP Billiton advanced 0.76%, while rivals Glencore Xstrata and Polymetal rallied 1.06% and 1.70% respectively.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.12% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.07% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.15% increase.

Also Monday, data showed that German producer price inflation rose 0.3% from a month earlier in September, better than expectations for a 0.1% increase.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release private sector data on existing home sales.