Investing.com - European stocks slipped lower on Wednesday, after the White House said President Barack Obama is set to nominate Janet Yellen to head the Federal Reserve, as concerns over a potential U.S. sovereign default continued to weigh.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.29%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.28%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.20%.
Equity markets found some support ahead of Ms. Yellen’s nomination amid expectations that under her leadership Fed policy could remain accommodative for some time. If Ms. Yellen’s nomination is confirmed by the Senate, she will succeed Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose term ends January 31.
But investors remained cautious as a partial U.S. government shutdown dragged on into a second week, with few signs of progress towards a resolution ahead of an October 17 deadline to avoid a U.S. sovereign default.
International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said Tuesday that a prolonged failure to raise the U.S. debt ceiling would "almost certainly derail the recovery".
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale gained 0.57% and 0.87%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank added 0.25%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA rose 0.27% and 0.44% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo advanced 0.28% and 1%.
Elsewhere, Peugeot Citroen climbed 0.49% following reports China’s Dongfeng Motor is preparing to buy a stake in the French carmaker for USD1.6 billion.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 dropped 0.54%, weighed by losses in mining stocks.
Shares in Polymetal slid 0.33% and Glencore Xstrata shed 0.39%, while rival Vedanta Resources was one of the worst performers on the index, tumbling 2.91%.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed. Lloyds Banking saw shares edge up 0.10% and HSBC Holdings rose 0.46%, while Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland fell 0.02% and 0.11% respectively.
Separately, the Royal Bank of Scotland was said to have passed records of a former currency trader’s potentially inappropriate communications with counterparts in other firms to U.K. regulators.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.23% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.31% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.24% rise.
Later in the day, the Fed was to release the minutes of its latest policy meeting.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.29%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.28%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.20%.
Equity markets found some support ahead of Ms. Yellen’s nomination amid expectations that under her leadership Fed policy could remain accommodative for some time. If Ms. Yellen’s nomination is confirmed by the Senate, she will succeed Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose term ends January 31.
But investors remained cautious as a partial U.S. government shutdown dragged on into a second week, with few signs of progress towards a resolution ahead of an October 17 deadline to avoid a U.S. sovereign default.
International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said Tuesday that a prolonged failure to raise the U.S. debt ceiling would "almost certainly derail the recovery".
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale gained 0.57% and 0.87%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank added 0.25%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA rose 0.27% and 0.44% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo advanced 0.28% and 1%.
Elsewhere, Peugeot Citroen climbed 0.49% following reports China’s Dongfeng Motor is preparing to buy a stake in the French carmaker for USD1.6 billion.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 dropped 0.54%, weighed by losses in mining stocks.
Shares in Polymetal slid 0.33% and Glencore Xstrata shed 0.39%, while rival Vedanta Resources was one of the worst performers on the index, tumbling 2.91%.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed. Lloyds Banking saw shares edge up 0.10% and HSBC Holdings rose 0.46%, while Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland fell 0.02% and 0.11% respectively.
Separately, the Royal Bank of Scotland was said to have passed records of a former currency trader’s potentially inappropriate communications with counterparts in other firms to U.K. regulators.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.23% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.31% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.24% rise.
Later in the day, the Fed was to release the minutes of its latest policy meeting.