Investing.com – European equities traded lower on Tuesday as European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi gave an upbeat view of the recovery in the euro zone and investors awaited more appearances from central bank chiefs.
Nearing midday trade in Europe, the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.39%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.45% while Germany’s DAX 30 traded down 0.36%.
“All the signs now point to a strengthening and broadening recovery in the euro area,” Draghi said in a speech at the ECB Forum held in Sintra, Portugal on Tuesday, insisting that deflationary pressures had been replaced by reflationary ones and that factors weighing on inflation were mainly temporary.
The remarks sent the euro to session highs against the dollar with EUR/USD last up 0.6% at 1.1251.
However, Draghi insisted on the need for the ECB to maintain “a considerable degree of monetary accommodation is still needed for inflation dynamics to become durable and self-sustaining.”
In other central bank news, markets looked ahead to the Bank of England’s (BoE) publication of the Financial Stability Report at 5:30AM ET (9:30GMT) with a follow-up press conference with BoE governor Mark Carney a half an hour after.
Markets also looked ahead to a speech on global economic issues from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen at 1:00PM ET (17:00GMT).
In company news, shares in Schaeffler (DE:SHA_p) tumbled more than 10% on Tuesday, leading decliners on the Stoxx 600, after the German automaker reported worse-than-expected earnings and cut its forward guidance.
STADA Arzneimittel (DE:STAGn) was the second largest decliner on the index with losses of more than 4% as the German-based pharmaceutical and healthcare holding failed to win shareholder approval of the takeover offer from Cinven and Bain Capital.
Also on watch, Spanish bank Bankia agreed to acquire smaller rival BMN in a deal worth €825 million ($928 million) in the latest stage of consolidation in the European banking sector.
Shares of Bankia (MC:BKIA) led advancers on the Stoxx 600 with gains of around 4.5%.
Meanwhile, oil prices were higher in European trade on Tuesday, extending their recovery from last week's ten-month lows, but futures stayed volatile in the face of fresh supply worries amid indications that U.S. shale production will continue to rise.
European energy stocks traded mixed, as French oil and gas major Total SA (PA:TOTF) lost 0.11%, Italy’s ENI (MI:ENI) fell 0.22% but Norwegian rival Statoil (OL:STL) traded up 0.36%.
Financial stocks moved higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) rose 0.88% and 1.18%, respectively, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) traded up 2.76% and 1.72%, respectively.
Among peripheral lenders, Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and rival Unicredit (MI:CRDI) rose 1.48% and 1.43%, respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) gained 1.27% and 1.15%, respectively.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 lost 0.18%.
Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) rose 1.79%, Anglo American (LON:AAL) gained 2.62%, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) traded up 2.01% and 2.45%, respectively.
Energy stocks moved higher, as BP (LON:BP) advanced 0.19% and rival Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) gained 0.39%.
Financial stocks saw mixed trade, with shares in HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) down 0.19% and Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) unchanged, while Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) edged forward 0.10% and Barclays (LON:BARC) led with gains of 1.45%.
In the U.S., stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.04%, S&P 500 futures inched down 0.07%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.37%.