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| European stocks open lower amid declining oil prices |
European stocks opened lower on Wednesday, as declining oil prices weighed on market sentiment.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 slid 0.48%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.67%, while Germany’s DAX 30 fell 0.28%.
Oil prices moved back lower on Wednesday, following news Canadian oil sand production is set to rise following forced closures due to wildfires.
In addition, the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.45 million barrels to a record 543.1 million barrels in the week ending May 6.
Energy stocks were mostly lower, as French oil and gas major Total SA (PA:TOTF) dropped 0.59% and Italy’s ENI (MI:ENI) SpA lost 1.47%. However, Norwegian rival Statoil ASA (OL:STL) inched up just 0.07%.
Financial stocks were also on the downside, as French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas declined 0.61% and 0.74%, while Germany’s Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank tumbled 1.17% and 1.58%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit plummeted 1.57% and 2.65% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander lost 1.28% and 1.18%.
Elsewhere, Allianz declined 1.15% after the German insurer reported an 18.5% increase in first quarter net profit but said its asset management unit Pimco saw 10.1 billion euros in third party net outflows.
Publisher Axel Springer SE added to losses, with shares diving 4.05% even after it posting a 5.2% rise in core profit in the first three months of the year.
In London, FTSE 100 slipped 0.11%,weighed by Tui AG NA , whose shares tumbled 1.40% after the travel company confirmed its full-year earnings guidance and said it planned to sell its specialist group of holiday brands.
Financial stocks were also broadly lower, as Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings fell 0.21% and 0.25% respectively, while Barclays retreated 0.73% and the Royal Bank of Scotland lost 1.02%.
Meanwhile, minint stocks were broadly higher on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Glencore advanced 1.14% and Fresnillo jumped 1.33%, while Anglo American rallied 1.54% and Randgold Resources surged 2.55%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.29% fall, S&P 500 futures a 0.20% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.22% slip.
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