On Monday, European stock indexes opened lower, despite growing expectations for further stimulus measures from the European Central Bank, as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of German business climate report, scheduled for today.
During European morning trade, STOXX EURO 50 eased 0.70%, France's CAC 40 lost 0.53%, and the German DAX 30 fell 0.33%.
European shares strengthened after ECB President Mario Draghi on Thursday signaled the possibility of fresh easing measures at the end of the European Central Bank March meeting.
The financial sector has been mixed. Thus, French lenders BNP Paribas (PA: BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA: SOGN) lost 0.16% and 0.45%, while the German Commerzbank (DE: CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE: DBKGn) fell 1.76% and 1.35%.
Among peripheral lenders, Unicredit (MI: CRDI) weakened 1.35%, Intesa Sapaolo gained 0.59%, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MC: SAN) and BBVA (MC: BBVA) added 0.02% and 0.55% respectively.
Shares of Wincor Nixdorf O.N. (DE: WING) rose 2.19% after the German software maker raised its operating profit forecast following the reporting profit growth in the first quarter.
Shares of Siemens AG NA (DE: SIEGn) fell 0.89% after the agreement on the purchase of CD-adapco, a private American company for development of software, for approximately $ 1 billion in cash.
London's FTSE 100 fell 0.21%, under the pressure of losses in the mining sector.
Stocks of Glencore (L: GLEN) fell 0.99%, the shares of Bhp Billiton (L: BLT) lost 1.83%, while shares of rival Rio Tinto (L: RIO) fell 1.97%.
The financial sector in UK also weakened significantly, as the shares of HSBC Holdings (L: HSBA) fell 0.10%, shares of Royal Bank of Scotland (L: RBS) lost 0.76%, shares of Barclays (L: BARC) retreated 0.92%, and shares of Lloyds Banking (L: LLOY) fell 1.93%.
Meanwhile, shares of BT Group (L: BT) tumbled 1.50% amid reports that regulators are forcing the company to separate the national network to increase its speed.
In the US, equity markets pointed to a decline in anticipation of the opening. Futures of Dow Jones Industrial Average show a 0.49% decline, S&P 500 indicates a 0.41% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures reported a decrease by 0.46%.