Investing.com - European stocks move lower on Wednesday, as fresh U.S. political worries dampened market sentiment and as investors eyed a speech by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi due later in the day.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.32%, France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.21%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.10%.
Markets were jittery after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey.
Comey had been leading his agency's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and possible collusion with Trump's campaign.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) added 0.17% and 0.51%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) rose 0.03% and 0.97%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) jumped 0.63% and 1.01% respectively. Spanish banks Banco Santander (MC:SAN) and BBVA (MC:BBVA) underpeformed, with shares down 0.01% and 0.27%.
Elsewhere, Continental AG (DE:CONG) rallied 1.16% after announcing plans to raise prices to help offset €500 million of costs it expects to incur this year from rising raw material prices.
On the downside, E.ON SE (DE:EONGn) tumbled 1.19% after the German energy giant said that first-quarter adjusted profit fell 0.34% compared to the same period the previous year, weighed by a decline in its U.K. customers.
In London, conmodity-heavy FTSE 100 inched up 0.01%, helped by Barratt Developments PLC (LON:BDEV), whose shares surged 3.27% as the company was set to report solid trading in its latest update later Wednesday.
Financial stocks were also mostly higher, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) edged up 0.08% and HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) gained 0.45%, while Barclays (LON:BARC) and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) climbed 0.56% and 0.59% respectively.
Mining stocks added to gains on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) inched up 0.07% and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) added 0.26%, while Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) rose 0.34%.
Meanwhile, Micro Focus International (LON:MCRO) tumbled 1.26% after saying sales declined at the Hewlett Packard business it is preparing to buy.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.18% fall, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.16% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.08% downtick.