Investing.com - European stocks were lower on Wednesday, amid fresh concerns over Brexit negotiations and as investors were awaiting the second round of France’s presidential election on Sunday.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.02%, France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.15%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.10%.
Markets were jittery after France and Germany said they would expect the U.K. to pay up to €100 billion to leave the European Union.
Investors also remained cautious as French political opponents Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen were to face each other in a final televised debate on Wednesday evening.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve was set to release its monthly monetary policy decision later in the day. While the central bank was widely expected to hold interest rates, investors were eyeing any hints on the pace of future rate hikes.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) gained 0.20% and 1.19%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) rose 0.33%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) climbed 0.45% and 0.86% respectively, while Spanish bank BBVA (MC:BBVA) added 0.24% .
Elsewhere, Novo Nordisk (CO:NOVOb) A/S saw shares soar 5.63% after the Danish pharmaceutical company reported a better than expected 7.4% climb in first-quarter net profit.
Adding to gains, Fresenius SE (DE:FREG) & Co. jumped 2.68% after the German health-care group reported a 28% increase in first-quarter net profit and a 19% rise in sales.
In London, FTSE 100 slipped 0.25%, weighed by J Sainsbury (OTC:JSAIY), whose shares plummeted 2.22% after the food retailer said sales for the 52 weeks to 11 March 2017 climbed by 12.7% to £29.112 billion, but that like-for-like sales slipped 0.6%.
Mining stocks were also on the downside on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) declined 0.72% and Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) lost 1.30%, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) tumbled 1.67%.
In the financial sector, stocks were also mostly lower. Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) and HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) fell 0.19% and 0.22% respectively, while Barclays (LON:BARC) retreated 0.60%. The Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) held steady, with shares inching up just 0.01%.
On the upside, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (LON:IHG) rallied 1.34% after analysts at Barclays reiterated their ‘equal weight’ rating on the stock.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.11% fall, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.15% slip, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.31% decline.