European stocks market august 31 2012

European stocks market august 31 2012 : European stocks opened higher on Friday, as investors continued to eye a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later in the day, although fresh concerns over the worsening of the debt crisis in the euro zone limited gains.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 added 0.28%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.31%, while Germany’s DAX 30 edged 0.19% higher.

Investors remained cautious ahead of Bernanke’s speech at a symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, amid ongoing speculation over how close the Fed may be to implementing more economic stimulus.

Meanwhile, sentiment found some support amid expectations that the European Central Bank is working on measures to help stabilize the euro zone's sovereign debt markets, ahead of its next policy meeting on September 6.

But gains were capped by euro zone debt concerns, after European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said earlier that economic uncertainty in Europe is rising "massively" as growth prospects worsen.

Financial stocks were mixed as France's Societe Generale and BNP Paribas declined 0.68% and 0.74% respectively, while German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank added 0.26% and 0.81%.

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia saw shares tumble 2.23% on the other hand, after rival Samsung Electronics became the first handset maker this week to announce a smartphone using Microsoft's latest mobile software.

Nokia is set to hold a joint announcement with Microsoft on September 5 and is expected to announce its own smartphone running on Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8 operating system.

In London, FTSE 100 added 0.12%, after showed that house prices in the U.K. rose far more than expected in August.

Oil and mining companies were among the top gainers, as shares in copper producer Kazakhmys surged 1.83% and rival Vedanta Resources advanced 1.60%, while oil and gas major Anglo American rallied 0.97%.

Glencore climbed 2.06% despite an earlier Bloomberg report saying that it holds the highest employee fatality rate among its closest peers. Investors in Xstrata, whose shares were up 0.96% in early European trading, will be voting next week on Glencore’s USD31 billion takeover bid.

Elsewhere, financial stocks were mostly lower, led by Lloyds Banking, down 0.48%, and followed by Barclays, with shares dropping 0.42%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0.16%. Only HSBC Holdings managed to outperform its counterparts, with shares climbing 0.46%.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.18% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.18% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.17% gain.

Also Friday, official data showing that retail sales in Germany fell unexpectedly by 0.9% in July added to concerns over the effects of the euro zone's debt crisis on the region's strongest economy.

Later in the day, the euro zone was to publish preliminary data on consumer price inflation, as well as official data on the bloc's unemployment rate.

Manwhile, the U.S. was to release a report on Chicago’s purchasing managers’ index, as well as revised data by the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment and official data on factory orders.

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