Credit: Investing.com -
Investing.com - European stocks were little changed on Friday, as the European Central Bank's asset-purchase program continued to support, while concerns over Greece's debt woes persisted.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.02%, France's CAC 40 eased 0.08%, while Germany's DAX 30 inced up 0.06%.
European equities remained supported after the ECB began purchasing securities on Monday as part of an asset-buying program amounting to €60 billion a month.
However concerns over the situation in Greece persisted, as the eurogroup of finance ministers continued talks in Brussels to discuss a reform package put forward by Greece as part of its bailout review.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Thursday that the country will be able to fulfill its financial responsibilities, even if creditors don't a pay a tranche of aid.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) edged up 0.06% and 0.14%, while Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) rallied 1.77%.
The German lender reportedly agreed to pay $1.45 billion to settle multiple U.S. investigations, putting an end to years of violations claims and its role in one of Japan's biggest accounting scandals.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) gained 0.32% and 0.72% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) advanced 0.59% and 0.62%.
Elsewhere, Salvatore Ferragamo SpA jumped 1.24% after reporting better-than-expected earnings for 2014.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 inched 0.02% higher, supported by gains in the mining sector.
Shares in mining giant Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) edged up 0.12% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) climbed 0.96%, while Randgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) and Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) rallied 1.07% and 1.68% respectively.
In the financial sector, stocks were mixed. Barclays (LONDON:BARC) saw shares dip 0.02% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) eased 0.04%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) slid 0.39% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) added 0.18%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.10% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.13% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.19% increase.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on producer prices and consumer sentiment.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
