Investing.com – Despite opening with gains across the board, European stocks ran out of fuel on Tuesday and traded with mixed signs, as markets kept an eye out for appearances from central bank members on both sides of the Atlantic.
In midmorning trade in Europe, the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 slipped 0.05%, France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.02% but Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.17%.
Most of the focus on central banks Tuesday was centered on the Bank of England (BoE) as markets looked ahead to speeches from two members of the British Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
MPC policy member Andy Haldane, who recently shook markets with hawkish comments that he could be ready for the BoE to hike soon, will speak at 6:00AM ET (10:00GMT).
More attention will likely focus on Ben Broadbent as markets look to see if the BoE deputy member will make remarks that put him in the hawkish camp, possibly upping the pressure on the doves that economists widely expect will only have a five to three lead at the next policy meeting in August.
If Broadbent, speaking at 7:00AM ET (11:00GMT), was to lean more towards a tightening stance along with incoming member Silvana Tenreyro, these two members could potentially swing the vote to raise rates from their record low of 0.25%.
European Central Bank (ECB)member Benoit Coeure will also be in the limelight for the euro zone monetary authority at a time when investors are trying to decipher when the ECB plans on removing accommodative monetary policy.
The focus on central banks comes in a week when global markets await Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Janet Yellen’s testimony to Congress on Wednesday as they search for clues on the path for further interest rate hikes and balance sheet normalization at the U.S. central bank.
Earlier Tuesday, San Francisco Fed president John Williams reiterated his stance that they would move forward with more tightening this year.
Fed governor Lael Brainard and Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari were also scheduled to speak later on Tuesday.
In a relatively light economic calendar, the British Retail Consortium reported that its retail sales monitor rose 1.2% in June, more than doubling the consensus forecast for a 0.5% rise, while Italian industrial production showed a 0.7% increase in May, beating expectations for a month-on-month rise of 0.5%.
The U.S. will also have a light schedule for economic data with the focus on the job vacancies revealed in the Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover survey (JOLTS) at 10:00AM ET (16:00GMT).
The positive economic seen so far on Tuesday was insufficient to keep the buying momentum running with most headlines focusing on negative company news.
Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS) was off more than 2% after the British retailer reported a 1.2% drop in closing sales. Food sales appeared to be the major disappointment given the 0.1% decline. Analysts had penciled in a 0.6% increase for the first quarter.
Adecco (SIX:ADEN) and Randstad Holding NV (AS:RAND) were also seeing downward pressure as Deutsche Bank analysts downgraded its recommendation on staffing companies to sell due to levels of employment in Europe.
Shares in Pearson (LON:PSON) were off more than 3% after announcing it sold a 22% stake in Penguin Random House, the world’s biggest publisher.
In other corporate moves, French drug maker Sanofi (PA:SASY) announced it would pick up U.S. vaccines biotech firm Protein Sciences for an initial payment of around $650 million.
Meanwhile, oil prices were lower on Tuesday as Dow Jones reported that an Iranian oil official estimated that Tehran’s production would rise by 0.8 million barrels per day in 5 years. Increasing production by U.S. shale firms and Nigeria and Libya who are exempt from the production cut agreements have continued to spark concerns over the global supply glut.
European energy stocks traded mostly lower, as French oil and gas major Total SA (PA:TOTF) lost 0.28%, Norwegian rival Statoil (OL:STL) traded down 0.51% but Italy’s ENI (MI:ENI) was unchanged.
Financial stocks traded mostly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) rose 0.24% and 0.39%, respectively, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) gained Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) traded up 1.09% and 0.90%, respectively.
Among peripheral lenders, Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and rival Unicredit (MI:CRDI) rose 0.28% and 0.06%, respectively, but Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) fell 0.12% and 0.15%, respectively.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 lost 0.68%, despite support from mining stocks.
Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) gained 1.18%, Anglo American (LON:AAL) advanced 1.59%, BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) inched up 0.08% and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) advanced 0.37%.
Energy stocks were under downward pressure, as BP (LON:BP) fell 0.84% and rival Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) lost 0.88%.
Financial stocks saw mixed trade, with shares in HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) up 0.85% but rivals Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS), Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) and Barclays (LON:BARC) traded down 0.58%, 0.41% and 0.55%, respectively.
In the U.S., stock futures pointed to a flat open with mixed signs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged forward 0.02%, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.04%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.06%.