Investing.com - European stocks were lower on Friday, weighed by disappointing German industrial production data and as concerns over Greece's future in the euro zone continued to dominate market sentiment.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 shed 0.28%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.27%, while Germany’s DAX 30 dropped 0.60%.
Official data earlier showed that German industrial production rose 0.1% in December, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% gain. November's figure was revised to a 0.1% uptick from a previously estimated 0.1% fall.
On Thursday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said that Greece's financial difficulties were the result of domestic problems, but that Germany would do all in its power to help.
Schauble was speaking at a joint press conference with his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis in Berlin on Thursday.
The comments came after the European Central Bank said it would no longer accept Greek bonds as collateral for lending, shifting the burden on to Greece’s central bank to provide additional liquidity for its lenders and increasing pressure on Athens.
Greece’s government is seeking debt relief on its current €240 billion bailout, which has fuelled fears over a clash with its creditors that could bring about its eventual exit from the euro zone.
Financial stocks were mixed, as BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) slipped 0.13% and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) jumped 1.75% in France, while Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) fell 0.27% and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) rallied 1.60% in Germany.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit gained 0.62% and 1.23% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA advanced 0.51% and 0.74%.
Elsewhere, Statoil (OSLO:STL) climbed 0.85% as Norway's biggest energy company announced further cost cuts and halted dividend growth, in a move to counter dropping oil prices.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 fell 0.30%, weighed by losses in mining stocks.
Shares in Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) slid 0.39% and Bhp Billiton dropped 0.52%, while Rio Tinto declined 0.75%.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were broadly higher. Barclays edged up 0.10% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) added 0.28%, while Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) gained 0.40% and 0.93% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.10% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.09% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.12% increase.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report, and data on wage growth.