Investing.com - European stocks were mostly higher in choppy trade on Tuesday, amid growing expectations for fresh easing measures by the European Central Bank, although markets were jittery ahead of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.16%, France’s CAC 40 inched 0.05% higher, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.23%.
Market participants eyed the minutes from the Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday for further indications on the central bank's view of the economy.
European equities had strengthened last week amid mounting expectations that the ECB will ease monetary policy at its upcoming June meeting to safeguard the recovery in the euro zone and stop inflation from falling too low.
Recent comments by ECB officials have indicated that the bank is open to easing and is prepared to act swiftly if necessary.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) gained 0.75% and 0.12%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) rose 0.31%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) were up 0.04% and 0.77% respectively, while Spain's Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) climbed 0.54%.
Credit Suisse Group (SIX:CSGN) added to gains, rallying 1.80%, after pleading guilty on Monday to aiding Americans’ tax evasion. Instead of identifying the thousands of customers who cheated the Internal Revenue Service, the lender reportedly promised to point investigators in the right direction.
On the downside, Deutsche Annington Immobilien (XETRA:ANNGn) plunged 3.52% after a number of investors offered to sell a 12.5% stake in the German real-estate company.
In London, FTSE 100 dipped 0.02%, led by Vodafone (LONDON:VOD), down 3.62%, after the telecom company predicted that earnings will fall to as low as £11.4 billion pounds in the year ending March 2015.
Marks & Spencer (LONDON:MKS) was also on the downside, with shares tumbling 2.26%, even as the retailer's earnings exceeded projections.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were broadly higher. Shares in HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) edged up 0.10% and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) added 0.14%, while Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) advanced 0.61% and 0.74% respectively.
In the mining sector, stocks were also mostly higher as Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) rose 0.26% and Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) gained 0.22%, while Vedanta Resources (LONDON:VED) jumped 1.27%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.14% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.09% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.18% increase.