European
stocks slipped lower on Tuesday, after relatively positive unemployment
data from Spain, as investors remained cautious ahead of the European
Central Bank's monthly policy meeting scheduled later in the week.
During European morning trade, the eased 0.06%, France’s dipped 0.06%, while Germany’s edged down 0.09%.
Official
data earlier showed that the number of unemployed people in Spain
dropped by 111,900 last month, compared to expectations for a 112,300
decline, after a 111,600 fall in April.
Meanwhile,
data on Friday showing that the annual rate of inflation in Italy and
Spain slowed in May continued to fuel expectations that the ECB will
take steps to tackle low consumer price growth, which is threatening the
fragile recovery in the euro zone.
Last
week, ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank was aware of the risks
of persistently low inflation and was prepared to take steps to get euro
zone inflation back to its target, the latest indication that the bank
is on course to ease monetary policy next week.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders Societe Generale (PARIS:) and BNP Paribas (PARIS:) edged up 0.03% and 0.12%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:) added 0.24%.
Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:) and BBVA (MADRID:) inched up 0.06% and 0.07% respectively. Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:) underperformed however, slipping 0.12% and 0.60%.
Elsewhere, GDF Suez (PARIS:)
rallied 1.29%, still supported by news on Friday that the French power
company's energy services unit Cofely bought U.S. firm Ecova for $335
million in a move to expand its energy efficiency business.
In London, fell 0.24%, led by Royal Mail (LONDON:),
down 0.95%, a day after the company raised concerns over the route of
the UK government’s controversial High Speed Rail project, which
proposes a major new transport route from London to the North of
England.
Financial stocks were also mostly lower, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:) dipped 0.06% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:) edged down 0.10%, while Barclays (LONDON:) shed 0.33%. Lloyds Banking (LONDON:) overperformed on the other hand, up 0.08%.
Intercontinental Hotels (LONDON:)
saw shares drop 0.68% as Chief Executive Officer Richard Solomons said
his company can grow on its own without a merger or takeover.
In the mining sector, stocks were mixed. Rio Tinto (LONDON:) slipped 0.08% and Bhp Billiton (LONDON:) declined 0.85%, while rivals Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:) and Vedanta Resources (LONDON:) gained 0.24% and 0.72% respectively.
Meanwhile, Wolseley (LONDON:)
led gains on the index, with shares surging 2.84%, after the U.K.
distributor of plumbing and heating products reported third-quarter
sales growth of 5.1%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The pointed to a 0.05% dip, signaled a 0.11% fall, while the indicated a 0.09% loss.
Later
in the day, the euro zone was to release preliminary data on consumer
inflation as well as a report on the unemployment rate. The U.S. was to
produce data on factory orders.
